Volcanologist says Grindavík can rebuild as volcanic activity subsides
Tuesday 25th August 2026 on 23:45 in
Iceland
Volcanologist Þorvaldur Þórðarson says signs point to the volcanic unrest at the Sundhnúk crater row ending gradually, mbl.is reports. He welcomed the reopening of Grindavík’s primary school and the return of activity to the town.
“I welcome the fact that people from Grindavík can start thinking about rebuilding and bringing life back to the town. It is time,” Þorvaldur told mbl.is.
Grindavík’s primary school reopened after three years without classes in the town. School operations were suspended after the town was evacuated because of volcanic activity on the Reykjanes Peninsula.
Grindavík not in danger
The ninth eruption in the sequence that began at the Sundhnúk crater row in December 2023 ended on August 5 last year.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office has said that while magma continues to accumulate and pressure increases in the system, the most likely scenario is that magma will move from Svartsengi towards the Sundhnúk crater row, potentially leading to another eruption.
Þorvaldur said he believed the activity was gradually dying down. If another eruption occurred, he said, it would probably emerge in the same way as the previous eruptions.
“Grindavík is not in any danger. There is no magma beneath Grindavík and nothing is going to erupt there,” he said.
He added that even if lava began flowing towards the town, there would be enough time to evacuate people.
Earthquake activity continues
An earthquake swarm began overnight on the Reykjanes Ridge after a magnitude 4.1 earthquake, followed by more than 100 quakes, many of them above magnitude 3.
Þorvaldur said the activity continued a pattern seen recently and indicated that the system was preparing itself.
Satellite images measuring ground movements showed that the area had been subsiding for at least a year, along with some spreading. He said it was difficult to determine whether this would lead to eruptions in the near future, over the next few years or only in the coming decades.