"Getting closer to something happening"
This picture was taken of the crater on April 30. mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson
The inflation at Svartsengi is stable and there are now about twelve million cubic metres of magma in the magma chamber. A slight increase in seismic activity at the magma channel has been seen in the last few days. This is what Minney Sigurðardóttir, a natural hazard expert at the Icelandic Met Office, says to mbl.is.
“So it’s getting closer to something happening, I assume.”
"Magma run have occurred when magma volume is between 8 and 13 million cubic meters. "The magma is still filling up," she says.
As before there are two scenarios. Either new eruption fissures will open up between Stóra-Skógafell and Hagafell or the existing crater's activity will increase.
If new eruption fissures open up, the notice could be very short. Sigurðardóttir mentions that the rock has become very weak after all the earthquakes, so “they have been shaking it up well.”
Not much happening in the crater
When asked about the situation at the eruption, she mentions that the crater‘s rim has become very high so it‘s difficult to see the magma‘s surface, but that occasionally, magma‘s towers are seen rising.
“This eruption is very calm, but it’s still going on,” she says, adding that the situation has been similar for a few days now.
