COPENHAGEN: Some 900 earthquakes hit southern Iceland on Monday, authorities said, adding to tens of thousands of tremors that rattled the region in recent weeks as the country braces for what could become a significant volcanic eruption.
Almost 4,000 people were evacuated over the weekend as authorities feared that molten rock would rise to the surface of the earth and potentially hit a coastal town and a geothermal power station.
“We have this tremendous uncertainty now; will there be an eruption and if so, what sort of damage will occur,” said Matthew James Roberts, director of the service and research division at the Icelandic Meteorological Office.
Inhabitants of the town of Grindavik described being whisked from their homes in the early hours of Saturday as the ground shook, roads cracked and buildings suffered structural damage.
Hans Vera, a Belgian-born 56-year-old who has lived in Iceland since 1999, said there had been a constant shaking of his family’s house.
“You would never be steady, it was always shaking, so there was no way to get sleep,” said Vera, who is now staying at his sister-in-law’s home in a Reykjavik suburb.
“It’s not only the people in Grindavik who are shocked about this situation it’s the whole of Iceland,” he said.
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