Continued hazard due to volcanic gas
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Updated 27. March at 14:00 UTC
The volcanic eruption has been stable since Monday, 25 March. Eruption tremor has remained consistent since then, as has the activity in the three craters. Lava continues to flow southward from the craters mostly atop the lava field formed during the first days of the eruption. The following image shows the extension of the lava field as extrapolated from satellite images (ICEYE). The latest acquisition was on 26 March and it shows the widening of lava field towards the west, south of Hagafell, as well as further lava advancement towards the east and the south of the active vents.
Uplift continues in Svartsengi but at a slower rate than before previous eruptions or dike intrusions in recent months. This suggests that magma is still accumulating beneath Svartsengi despite ongoing eruption. Little to no seismic activity has been detected in the area.
Since Friday 22 March, two additional stations to monitor the concentrations of SO2 at the ground have been installed. VÍ, in collaboration with Almannavarnir, located them at Blue Lagoon and in the harbor area in Grindavík. Both stations are streaming data to the UST website, loftgæði.is.
Early yesterday morning, at around 03:00, the station in BL revealed levels of SO2 up to 7000 microgram/m3, and this morning at around 04:00 the station in Grindavík (Nesvegur) measured concentrations up to 9000 micrograms/m3. Such concentrations are considered óholl and people are recommended to follow the instructions provided by UST and Embætti landlæknis (link). On 26 March, the station in Hafnir also showed high concentrations of SO2 up to about 2000 microgarm/m3 around midday. The amount of SO2 released by the eruption and the meteorology in the area are still creating the conditions for severe gas pollution in the peninsula.