On Wednesday, Icelandic authorities announced that if a volcanic explosion threatened the evacuated town of Grindavik, they were thinking of spraying water over any lava that erupted.
On the southern Reykjanes peninsula of Iceland, there is a fishing port that is home to 4,000 people. The authorities plan to utilize the water to cool and redirect the flow of lava.
On November 11, a warning of an impending volcanic eruption was sent to the local populace after hundreds of earthquakes were generated by magma sliding beneath the Earth’s crust. Since then, thousands of minor earthquakes have shook the area.
However, because of diminishing magma flow and seismic activity, the likelihood of a sudden eruption “is decreasing every day and is considered low,” according to a statement issued by the Icelandic meteorological office on Wednesday night.
A state of emergency that has been in effect since November 11 will be abolished, according to authorities, on Thursday at 1100 GMT.
According to a civil protection statement, inhabitants of Grindavik will be permitted to return in the upcoming days to retrieve personal goods.
Civil protection and European experts will assess the possibility of “using high volume pumping to cool down the lava to protect the town of Grindavik and important infrastructures,” Vidir Reynisson, Iceland’s Head of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, told reporters.
The method was used in 1973, when a fissure erupted just 150 metres (164 yards) from the town centre on the island of Heimaey, surprising locals at dawn.
Residents had been able to successfully slow and control the spread of lava.
“An assessment technical team will arrive in Iceland tonight or tomorrow morning and they will assist us in assessing the possibilities,” Reynisson said.
Iceland is home to 33 active volcano systems, the highest number in Europe, and experiences an eruption every four or five years on average.
Grindavik is located near the Svartsengi geothermal plant, the main supplier of electricity and water to 30,000 residents on the Reykjanes peninsula, as well as a freshwater reservoir.
It is also near the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa resort, a popular tourist destination which has closed as a precaution.
Authorities have in recent days been building reinforcements around the Svartsengi plant to protect it in the event of an eruption.
