More than 1,800 small earthquakes have been recorded in the area around the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland since Tuesday afternoon, said the country's meteorological authority Vedurstofa.
Seven quakes had a magnitude of over 4.0, the most violent of which had a magnitude of 4.8, wrote Vedurstofa on Facebook on Wednesday. A tremor with a magnitude of 3.6 had been felt clearly in the region around the Icelandic capital Reykjavik late on Tuesday evening. The authorities warned of landslides and falling rocks.
Fagradalsfjall is located on the relatively sparsely populated Reykjanes Peninsula, about 40 kilometres southwest of Reykjavik. The area was the scene of volcanic eruptions lasting months in the summer of 2022 and before that in March 2021, after they had been preceded by numerous earthquakes.
The extent to which the new seismic activity points to a renewed volcanic eruption is still unclear, but experts at Icelandic radio station RÚV estimated that there may be one within a few days.
On its website, the weather authority warned on Wednesday of "intense earthquake activity and increased probability of a volcanic eruption".
