Lava Engulfs Houses in Iceland Despite Heroic Efforts to Build Earthwork Defences to Save Town

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Getty Images / RUV News Iceland
Oliver JJ Lane

Houses have been hit by lava flows in southwestern Iceland as a long-dormant volcano erupts for the second time since cracks opened in the earth in November.

Enormous emergency earthworks thrown up in response to the awakening of a long-dormant volcano in Iceland are working well, authorities say, but even so lava streams have reached the edge of Grindavík, Iceland, engulfing homes. Thousands of people have been evacuated from Grindavík again as a second eruption started on Sunday, and a second fissure closer to the town than the first opened, allowing lava to flow to a residential street.

REYKJANES, ICELAND – JANUARY 14:  An aerial view shows lava after volcano eruption located close to Sundhnukagigar, about 4 kilometers northeast of Grindavik town of Reykjanes peninsula, Iceland on January 14, 2024. (Photo by Iceland Public Defence / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A helicopter of the Icelandic Coast Guard flies over an area with glowing lava near the southwestern Icelandic town of Grindavik after a volcanic eruption on January 15, 2024, as cars (bottom R) drive nearby. Lava flowing from a volcano that erupted on January 14 near the Icelandic fishing port of Grindavik has engulfed at least three homes just hours after villagers were evacuated to safety, authorities said. It was the North Atlantic nation’s fifth volcanic eruption in under three years. The most recent occurred just weeks ago on December 18 in the same region, southwest of the capital Reykjavik. (Photo by Halldor KOLBEINS / AFP) (Photo by HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP via Getty Images)

There have been no confirmed fatalities so far, but one workman is reported missing after apparently falling into a crack in the ground caused by last month’s eruption shortly before the latest eruption. A rescue effort was launched but ultimately called off after the risk of rockfalls made the process too dangerous to continue. Icelandic search and rescue offered their condolences to the family of the missing man in a statement, saying “It is extremely difficult for the rescuers to have to withdraw from the search without success.

“This was unprecedented and extremely challenging. The cooperation of all rescuers, rescue teams, the fire brigade of Grindavík and the Höfúðborg area, the special police force and the police in Suðurnesj went very well, but unfortunately this is the result. Their thoughts are with their relatives.”

Icelandic national broadcaster RUV notes while the pyroduct — ‘magma tunnel’ — appears to have flowed underneath the town itself, the power of the present eruption has slowed for now. Nevertheless, this is the second eruption at Grindavík in a month and the third evacuation of the town in two months, and it remains possible more will follow. Three houses have been destroyed.

Aerial view taken on January 14, 2024 shows emergency personnel using diggers to build a protective wall trying to prevent flowing lava to reach the centre of the southwestern Icelandic town of Grindavik after a volcaninc eruption.  (Photo by HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP via Getty Images)

Preparing for the possibility of further lava flows after December’s eruption, Icelandic authorities engaged in an emergency effort to build giant earthwork banks to deflect the lava away from the town. Much progress on this work was made, but at the time of the latest eruption the construction equipment — the largest of its kind in the whole country — that had been used to move thousands of tons of rock and soil were directly next to the lava. Footage shared by RUV shows the moment the convoy of machines was saved by workers to prevent it from being lost in the molten rock, driving it to safety.

Engineer Ari Guðmundsson said the earthworks had worked as hoped: “This event yesterday showed that they are proving their worth and what their structure and height is like. Of course, this also always depends on where the lava comes up and so on. It’s also very important”.

Grindavík mayor Fannar Jónasson called the eruption means “great sadness” for residents and potentially serious consequences for locals as the magma cuts off water and heating pipes in the depths of an arctic-region winter. He said: “These are unique circumstances. We are not just bent anymore but broken. So now we need to get the support of the government. We know that we have the nation with us in this and there is a lot of warmth, but we have to get broad support and we are working hard on that.”

The Icelandic President meanwhile said the eruption heralded a “daunting period of upheaval”, but nevertheless “We continue to hope for as good an outcome as possible, in the face of these tremendous forces of nature… We will carry on with our responsibilities and we will continue to stand together”.

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