25 votes

Grindavík in Iceland now lies empty. Its people have fled and are beginning to face up to the realisation they may never be able live there again.

Posted by mycketforvirrad
Tags: iceland.grindavik, geology, volcanology, volcanoes, lava, disasters.natural, disasters.structural, communities, author.hermann gunnarsson, source.bbc
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68133386

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Title
Iceland volcano: Grindavik's people may never return after volcano spills lava into town
Word count
1055 words

3 comments

  1. [2]
    chocobean
    Link
    Maybe I'm dumb but for 80 days now I've been wondering why they keep saying the residents may never be able to return to town again? There's fissures, there's lava, some houses are gone under...

    Maybe I'm dumb but for 80 days now I've been wondering why they keep saying the residents may never be able to return to town again?

    There's fissures, there's lava, some houses are gone under hardened lava. But what about the rest? Are they saying these kinds of sudden catastrophic events are going to never go away in this area again? I'm unable to connect the dots here.

    After a forest fire, hurricane, earthquake, flood, the spared houses are livable again. It might be difficult to get insurance again. Maybe the structural soundness is in question since the ground bedrock levelness (?) has changed?

    This article might be a clue:

    https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/iceland-volcano-town-grindavik-sinking-31466958

    He explained how three weeks ago there was an "intrusion" (a fracture) and magma flowed into the "pathway" created. A corridor of lava, which has now grown to 15km long, is growing every day under the south-west peninsula of the island, looking for somewhere to escape.

    The experts say this activity has created a type of sinkhole under the stricken fishing town, which is causing the land to subside by 5cms every day. So far it has fallen 1.2 metres leaving gaping holes in the roads and homes and businesses destroyed.

    "But it didn’t quite make it up to the surface, it came close to coming up all the way, probably less than 500 metres from the surface. So there is something delaying it…Something is holding it back.

    If they don't know what's holding it back, it means it could suddenly erupt? And that's why the town may not be livable anymore, plus the sinking probably destroyed roads, sewers, pipelines, and all other infrastructure ?

    7 votes
    1. wowbagger
      Link Parent
      I think the main problem is that there's no way to know how long this activity will last. The magma chamber is being continually replenished by a deep source, which is beyond our current capacity...

      I think the main problem is that there's no way to know how long this activity will last. The magma chamber is being continually replenished by a deep source, which is beyond our current capacity to measure. These periodic eruptions could conceivably last for a period of years, with a month or two between lava flows, as we've been seeing so far. That wouldn't even be that unusual for a unique geological environment such as Iceland. It's somewhat different from other natural disasters because the town's location directly on top of a rift zone more or less guarantees that this will happen again. There's no way to say whether that will be in 10 years or 1000, but it will keep occuring.

      If you had a home in Grindavík, how long would you wait it out? Many residents have been staying with friends or family members since November of last year. At a certain point you have to cut your losses and move on with life. The eruptions don't have to continue forever for the town to die, just long enough for the people who lived there to lose hope. There are already pieces of legislation in the works to buy out homeowners; once that happens and folks start to move elsewhere I wouldn't be surprised if the town is abandoned, at least for now.

      20 votes
  2. TinkerTing
    Link
    This was a sad story. Sad for the man who lost his life and their family. Sad for those who can't move back to their homes. If you had a mortgage on your home and it didn't get destroyed, even if...

    This was a sad story. Sad for the man who lost his life and their family. Sad for those who can't move back to their homes. If you had a mortgage on your home and it didn't get destroyed, even if it's unlivable and next to a fissure, you'd likely still have to continue to pay, wouldn't you? Even though the town is unlivable. I don't think anyone will get to move back because of all the fissures and safety issues in the area. I'd not want to go back.

    6 votes