In Iceland this week lava from a volcano on the outskirts of the town of Grindavik flowed for the second time in a month. The volcano consumed several houses and now, coupled with other recent eruptions in the region, experts are saying that the Icelandic fault line has awoken.
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00:00This was the scene in Iceland this week as the lava from a volcano on the outskirts of the town of
00:09GrindavĂk flowed for the second time in a month. The volcano consumed several houses and now coupled
00:14with their other recent eruptions in the region experts are saying that the Icelandic fault line
00:19has awoken. The island nation has always been known for its volcanic activity but volcanologists
00:24say it has been relatively quiet for around 800 years. However the mid-Atlantic ridge or the
00:29oceanic crack which separates the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates sits right underneath
00:35Iceland and experts say if it has become active once again that could spell more volcanoes in the
00:40area than anyone living there has ever experienced. With volcanologist Patrick Allard saying quote
00:45after eight centuries of a relative break and a complete cessation of surface activity we have
00:50entered a new episode of plate separation which could last several years possibly decades. Iceland
00:56entered a new era in 2021 with the geological landscape literally changing due to a magma
01:01chamber building some two to six miles under the ground. However these most recent eruptions
01:06occurred with much less seismic activity than one would expect meaning that magma is likely much
01:11closer to the surface now and ready to flow.
01:20you