Just a few weeks after residents of the Icelandic village of Grindavik were allowed to return, they have been forced to evacuate again after a new volcanic eruption.
"The lava flow is only hundreds of metres from the northernmost houses in the community. It seems to be relatively fast flowing, says Ólafur Gudmundson, a geophysicist who has researched volcanoes in Iceland, in SVT Nyheter Direkt.
"Not unexpected"
It started with an intense series of earthquakes in the area at 3 o'clock, on the night of Sunday. This meant that the residents of Grindavik had about five hours to leave their homes before the outbreak started at 8 a.m.
"Society is threatened. However, this is not unexpected, Gudmundson says.
But at lunchtime, it is considered less likely that lava will reach all the way to Grindavik, reports Icelandic RÚV.
According to Ólafur Gudmundson, the rift that has now opened up is a continuation to the south, of the large eruption that occurred just before Christmas. This is after pressure has built up where magma has accumulated, at a depth of perhaps 5 kilometers.
"When that eruption happened, the pressure decreased. Now the pressure has built up again over three weeks, enough to open another part of the same crack, he says.
Past seismic activity
Grindavik is located about 30 kilometers southwest of Reykjavik and close to the Svartsengi geothermal plant, which is the main supplier of electricity and water to 000,<> inhabitants of the Reykjanes Peninsula. Also nearby is the popular Blue Lagoon geothermal spa.
In the last three years, there have been three small eruptions further east as well as smaller earthquakes, which, according to Ólafur Gudmundson, indicate movements of magma near the surface.
"This is probably the beginning of a period that could last for hundreds of years. 800 years ago, a period of high activity began in this area. Also a thousand years earlier than that. We know geological patterns.