Iceland - possible eruption due near the Blue Lagoon

[KenAdams]

Is anyone following this?

https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/news/2023/11/03/coming_close_to_an_eruption/

The main concern is the power plant next to the lagoon.

There are constant mini eruptions happening too - https://vafri.is/quake/

Oh certainly, but we do have the rules to try to prevent that. It means when incidents happen they are acting outside the law and can be prosecuted which will deter some.
My point is that I get the impression that this is a case where everyone knows the tours were a bad idea but there was no way to stop them.

I am not trying to pretend we get it right. The relaxed attitude where kids walk to school from an early age in Iceland for example is brilliant. I just think there needs to be a happy median. There have been a few comments through the thread about money overtaking sense and that is more what I'm referring to.

Edited for late night stupidity.

There was an incident paddle boarding a couple of years ago. They broke every rule that kayaking has in terms of what they should and shouldn't do. Professional company. My kayaking friends were saying before the official report that they would bet on x, y and z having happened. And guess what the report said.

Paddle boarding has since been put under the governance of the body responsible for kayaking and canoeing in the UK.

So it absolutely does happen here.

But I think the effects in Iceland will be significant because there hasn't been too many incidents involving tour companies to date.

Everytime there has been a significant incident involving a tour company or organisation in the UK there has been considerable fallout. Insurance is one of the biggest drivers of this.

Paging @Puffinshop There’s someone planning to visit Iceland in February and asking about driving to Jokulsarlon for the day from Vik, which sounds a bit mad. It was a bloody long drive in the summer. I think this may be a case where your local knowledge would big a big help.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/holidays/5166355-iceland-feb-half-term?reply=138711919

It is indeed a bloody long drive - did similar myself this summer and was absolutely knackered and we left out some cool stuff that we just didn't have time for. But some people do have more stamina for long drives so I won't say it's impossible!

Another one!

Again? Where now?

Same place. Just started 15 minutes ago so not much official info but it's the same place roughly.

What are we looking at?

Here we go again!

That was totally unexpected!!

Shawn Willsey is live now

https://www.youtube.com/live/ULRdzwdcW7E?si=4SLd4fhmCunpFxd7

Roughly the same place - same fissure line north east end we think

Wow! It’s looking lively. Do you have a sense of whether the geothermal plant and the nearby Northern Lights Inn and the Blue Lagoon are at risk this time?

That's an interesting feed, thank you.

Can you explain to us simpletons abroad how close it is to the power plant, blue lagoon and town mentioned in your OP?

RÚV says it's a fissure about 2 km long between Stóra-Skógfell and Sýlingarfell (these are small mountains) and poses no threat to infrastructure if it continues in the same way as it's started.

You can see these places on this old RÚV graphic (NB ignore red lines and arrows, this is from a previous eruption).

Bizarrely, the Iceland webcams I watch have been down for about a month. Yesterday evening I noticed two were back on, one of them being the one that overlooks Grindavik. I watch them on livefromiceland.is

The lava has now flowed over Grindavíkurvegur (road), a hot water pipe and the whole Blue Lagoon carpark.

https://www.visir.is/g/20242652794d/eld-gos-er-hafid

Some dramatic images on the Vísir feed.

Yikes. I thought the Blue Lagoon wasn’t in range this time.

I suppose it always depends on the speed and direction of flow. They think it won't get over the wall to the building/pool itself. But I suppose we'll see. They don't have a carpark anymore anyway.

Has it inundated the Northern Lights Inn? We stayed there a couple of years ago. It was such a cosy, welcoming hotel & the restaurant was excellent. We walked on the path across the lava field to Blue Lagoon for our dip. In the August eruption it looked like it was close to being cut off. 😞

No, no buildings except a little shed in the carpark.

Phew. I feel for the owners. It must feel desperate to be in limbo like this.

Gosh that is quite the update.

Isak has a drone over the blue lagoon area now!

https://www.youtube.com/live/U011uA8escE?si=GKbzqH_1nP2WGjtU

watching isak's livestream

those digger drivers

Wow I did not expect an eruption today! I saw the news at lunchtime, total surprise! I gather that there wasn't much warning before it started, just a relatively small earthquake swarm.