Guests rushed to leave the spa’s hotels in the early hours of Thursday, after they were rattled awake shortly before 1 a.m. by a magnitude 4.8 quake
The Blue Lagoon geothermal spa — one of Iceland’s biggest tourist attractions — closed temporarily as a swarm of earthquakes put the island nation’s most populated region on alert for a possible volcanic eruption.Bjarni Stefansson, a local taxi driver, described a scene of confusion when he arrived at the Retreat Hotel, where lava rocks had fallen on the roadway and the parking lot was jammed with 20 to 30 cabs.
Scientists are closely monitoring the situation for any indication that the seismic activity is getting closer to the surface, which could be an indication that the magma is breaking through the earth’s crust, the Met Office said. The Reykjanes Peninsula on Iceland’s southwestern coast is includes a volcanic system that has erupted three times since 2021, after being dormant for 800 years.
“We need to be prepared for the worst,” volcanologist Thorvaldur Thordarson said. “Magnitude 5 earthquakes, such as the one last night, are known to precede eruptions.” Spokeswoman Helga Arnadottir told the AP that close to 30 guests left the resort following the earthquake, but most belonged to one group traveling together.
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