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Iceland declares state of emergency while preparing for volcanic eruption

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Amid fears of a potentially deadly volcanic eruption, Iceland has declared a state of emergency and has evacuated thousands of people from the fishing village of Grindavik, Sky News reports.

Authorities are especially concerned about Katla in southern Iceland: this volcano has been active historically and could cause widespread flooding if it erupts now.

Iceland is one of the most volcanic regions on earth and has seen catastrophic eruptions over the centuries.

Most recently, in 2010 the Eyjafjallajokull eruption caused widespread disruption to flights across Europe.

Iceland Evacuates Citizens

The Icelandic government decided to evacuate 4,000 inhabitants from Grindavik in the early hours of Saturday morning after the region experienced over 1,000 tremors in a few hours, Sky News reports.

“ The molten rock that now sits 800 meters below the fishing village of Grindavik is expected to reach the surface within days, the latest in a long history of eruptions,” Sky’s science correspondent Thomas Moore explained in his report.

“It’s possible the eruption will be just off-shore, in which case the contact between super-heated rock and water would be explosive and almost certainly produce an ash cloud,” Moore said. “That’s unlikely to be as large as the plume caused by the Eyjafjallajokull eruption in 2010, which caused widespread disruption to flights across Europe – though it can’t be completely ruled out.”