Outlook 'bleak' as Iceland awaits volcanic eruption

Bangkok Post Group

Aerial views of Grindavik, Iceland, and its surrounding area showed cracks in the earth, as concerns about an imminent volcanic eruption remain. - REUTERS

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00:00 Steam rising from giant cracks that have ripped through Grendavik, Iceland, could be seen

00:05 from a Coast Guard helicopter on Friday.

00:08 The country is preparing for what experts believe is a likely volcanic eruption on the

00:12 Reykjanes Peninsula amid growing underground lava flows and intensifying seismic activity.

00:19 From midnight to about eight o'clock this morning, there were, I think, 600 new earthquakes.

00:25 So the outlook is rather bleak, in my opinion.

00:30 Geophysicist Ari Trausty-Goodmansen says the probability of an eruption is high.

00:36 People now wait in anxiety what is going to happen to the town.

00:41 If the eruption really occurs, it could spare the town to a large extent.

00:48 It could also, the lava flow, simply bury the town.

00:53 So we don't know really which scenario is the most likely one.

00:59 Aerial views of the nearby Blue Lagoon, one of Iceland's most famous tourist attractions,

01:04 show the geothermal spa completely deserted.

01:07 Authorities have evacuated nearly 4,000 people from the area and were preparing to construct

01:12 a large dike designed to divert lava flows around a geothermal power plant that provides

01:17 hot water to the entire peninsula.

01:21 Check the news, check the news.

01:22 I've been expecting it to start.

01:25 Evacuees wanting to go back into town to pick up belongings on Thursday had to queue at

01:29 a roadblock before they were either driven into Grindavik in emergency vehicles or accompanied

01:35 by emergency personnel.

01:37 It's like sitting in a very boring movie, but you're stuck there.

01:45 You can't get out of it.

01:47 It's unreal.

01:48 It's hard to digest.

01:52 Other residents also said the waiting for the eruption was the worst part.

01:55 My house is OK, but it's on the red area, so it has collapsed.

02:02 You know, the earth has collapsed about one meter or something.

02:06 We don't know if we're going to have a home or what.

02:09 Because if it doesn't erupt, we don't know anything.

02:12 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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