Volcano watch: Iceland’s ‘magma corridor,’ explained

>> A VOLCANO IN ICELAND COULD ERUPT ANY MOMENT NOW. MASSIVE CRACKS OPENING ON THE STREETS, AND IN HOMES. A MILE-LONG POOL OF LAVA BELOW THE TOWN, THREATENING TO ERUPT. >> ICELAND IS ONE OF THE MOST ACTIVE VOLCANIC AREAS IN THE WORLD, WITH 41 ACTIVE SYSTEMS

ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AND THE DANGERS THIS TIME ARE VERY REAL. >> IT WOULD BE MUCH CLOSER TO VERY IMPORTANT INFRASTRUCTURE, AND ALSO MUCH CLOSER TO THE TOWN OF GRINDAVIK. >> IT’S NOW A GHOST TOWN. MANY OF ITS 4,000 RESIDENTS TAKING REFUGE IN NEARBY SHELTERS.

>> OKAY, AN ENTIRE TOWN IS EMPTIED OUT, BECAUSE THE THREAT DOESN’T ONLY COME FROM ONE POINT. THERE’S A LONG STRETCH OF MAGMA BUBBLING BENEATH THE EARTH, A MAGMA CORRIDOR, AND WHEN AND WHERE IT ERUPTS COULD LEAD TO DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES. THERE ARE A FEW DIFFERENT WAYS

THIS COULD ALL PLAY OUT, AND EACH ONE HAS ITS OWN CHALLENGES. THE MAGMA CORRIDOR IS EXACTLY HOW IT SOUNDS. IT’S A 15-KILOMETRE TUNNEL OF MAGMA BUBBLING BENEATH THE SURFACE, STRETCHING ALL THE WAY TO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, AND ATOP OF IT, A FISHING VILLAGE, A

POWER STATION, A FAMOUS GEOTHERMAL SPA. SO THE DANGER COMES FROM A FISHER, A LINEAR VENT OF LAVA, AND IT COULD ENTER UP ANYWHERE ALONG THAT PATH — FISSURE. >> SOMETIMES THE MAGMA WILL HAVE ENOUGH FORCE BEHIND IT THAT IT CAN ACTUALLY PUSH ITSELF THROUGH

THE FRACTURE AND CONTINUE BREAKING IT, AND OPEN UP A PATHWAY ALL THE WAY TO THE SURFACE. >> IF A FISSURE DEVELOPS UNDER OR NEAR GRINDAVIK, WHICH IS A SMALL FISHING VILLAGE, THAT WOULD BE A DISASTER. GETTING PEOPLE OUT OF THERE WAS A TOP PRIORITY.

>> ON SATURDAY ICELANDIC AUTHORITIES BEGAN GOING HOUSE TO HOUSE, MAKING SURE THE ROUGHLY 4,000 RESIDENTS HAVE MOVED TO SAFETY. >> IT’S QUITE OUT OF THE ORDINARY. IT’S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE’RE USED TO. BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE DO TRAIN FOR AND WE HAVE PLANS FOR.

>> AUTHORITIES LET RESIDENTS BACK IN BRIEFLY ON TUESDAY TO GRAB THEIR BELONGINGS. >> SO WE ARE IN A BIG HUGE FEELING OF UNCERTAINTY AND KIND OF SADNESS AND, LIKE, DESPAIR. THERE’S NO PLANNING ANYMORE. WE LIVE JUST FROM ONE DAY TO ANOTHER, AND THAT’S IT.

>> THERE’S ALSO A PIECE OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SITTING ALONG THAT MAGMA CORRIDOR. IT’S A GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANT THAT SUPPLIES POWER TO THE WHOLE COUNTRY. WORKERS ARE DIGGING TRENCHES AROUND THE PLANT TO KEEP LAVA FROM REACHING IT IN CASE THERE’S AN ERUPTION NEARBY.

>> WHAT THEY ARE TRYING TO DO IS TO BUILD UP A WALL OF GRAVEL AROUND THAT POWER STATION SO THAT IF THE VOLCANO DOES BLOW AND SPEW OUT LAVA, THAT THE RIVER OF MOLTEN ROCK CAN BE DIVERTED AROUND THE POWER STATION AND KEEP THE LIGHTS ON.

>> LET’S SAY THE ERUPTIONS AREN’T NEAR THE TOWN AND THEY AVOID THE POWER STATIONS. WELL, THE THING IS, WHERE THIS COULD ERUPT IS WHAT COULD CAUSE BIG ISSUES. AND REMEMBER THAT CORRIDOR? IT RUNS INTO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. ♪ YOU MAY BE THINKING MAYBE A

VOLCANO ERUPTING IN THE OCEAN IS BETTER THAN ON LAND AND YOU WOULDN’T BE TOTALLY WRONG, DEPENDING WHERE ON LAND, BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MAGMA COMES INTO CONTACT WITH WATER IS IT DISINTEGRATES INTO ASH. >> AND BECAUSE THE GRAINS ARE SMALLER AND FAIRLY LIGHT, THEY

CAN BE CARRIED UP INTO THE ATMOSPHERE BY THE ERUPTION FLOW, WHICH IS TYPICALLY MAYBE 6, 7, 8 KILOMETRES HIGH, AND THEN GET DISBURSED PERSED BY WIND. >> IT CAN CONTAMINATE WATER SUPPLIES OR VEGETATION, AND IT CAN STICK AROUND IN THE ATMOSPHERE FOR WEEKS OR MONTHS.

YOU MIGHT REMEMBER THE LAST TIME AN ERUPTION FORMED AN ASH CLOUD OVER ICELAND. >> TONIGHT TRAVELLERS ARE STRANDED IN ALL ON SIX CONTINENTS. THIS IS THE PLUME FROM THE AIR, A MASSIVE CLOUD OF ASH FOLLOWING THE WINDS AND WEATHER PATTERNS RIGHT ACROSS THE ATLANTIC.

>> IT GROUNDED FLIGHTS AND DISRUPTED TRAVEL IN EUROPE FOR DAYS. OKAY, GETTING BACK TO WHEN THIS COULD HAPPEN, AND PART OF WHAT MAKES DEALING WITH A VOLCANIC ERUPTION SO TRICKY IS THAT IT’S SO UNPREDICTABLE. BUT WHILE IT’S HARD TO SAY EXACTLY WHEN A VOLCANO WILL

ERUPT, THERE ARE SIGNS. >> THE WARNINGS COULDN’T BE ANY CLEARER FOR RESIDENTS OF GRINDAVIK. >> ONE OF THE CLEAREST INDICATORS IS SEISMIC ACTIVITY. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAYS THERE HAVE BEEN MORE THAN A THOUSAND EARTHQUAKES ON THE PENINSULA SINCE SUNDAY. >> IT WAS LIKE CONSTANT SHAKING

OF OUR HOUSE, AND LIKE WITH PEAKS OF 4.5, 4.9, BUT THEN IT WOULD SLOW DOWN A LITTLE BIT, BUT YOU WOULD NEVER BE, YOU KNOW, STEADY. IT WAS ALWAYS SHAKING. SO WE WERE, LIKE, A LITTLE BIT, LIKE, THIS IS NOT NORMAL ANYMORE. >> VOLCANOOLOGISTS ARE WATCHING

ALL THAT SEISMIC ACTIVITY FOR CLUES ABOUT WHAT THE MAGMA IS ACTUALLY DOING, AND THERE ARE VISIBLE SIGNS OF A SHIFT BELOW THE SURFACE. CRACKS HAVE APPEARED IN THE GROUND, BUILDINGS ARE BEING DAMAGED, AND THE GROUND HAS EVEN BALLOONED. >> WE HAVE ACTUALLY STARTED TO

SEE THE FLAT GROUND BEING LIFTED, AND WE CAN MEASURE THAT. AND IN THIS CASE, WHAT WE MEASURED WAS A RISE OF 8 MILLIMETRES PER DAY, WHICH IS ACTUALLY QUITE A LOT. >> ANOTHER SIGN? TEMPERATURE INCREASE. MAGMA IS HOT, AND CAN RUN OVER A

THOUSAND DEGREES CELSIUS, SO AS THE MAGMA RISES, IT HEATS UP THE WATER AND ROCK IN THE GROUND AROUND IT, RAISING THE EARTH’S TEMPERATURE, AND RISING MAGMA ALSO PUSHES GAS UP AND OUT OF THE GROUND. >> — FASTER THAN THE MAGMA, AND COME UP THROUGH CRACKS, THAT

WOULD BE A WARNING SIGNAL FOR AN ERUPTION. >> SO HERE’S A THING TO CONSIDER AS WE WATCH ALL OF THIS UNFOLD. IF THE VOLCANO ERUPTS, IT COULD JUST BE ONE EVENT IN A LARGER CHAIN TO COME. FOR ALMOST 800 YEARS THIS VOLCANIC SYSTEM WAS CONSIDERED

DORMANT, BUT IN 2021 IT SPRANG BACK INTO ACTION. >> A SPECTACULAR SIGHT IN ICELAND TODAY WITH VOLCANOS SOUTHWEST OF THE CAPITAL RECK VEK. >> IT’S AN ERUPTION NEARLY 800 YEARS IN THEREYKJAVIK. >> IT’S AN ERUPTION NEARLY 800 YEARS IN THE MAKING, AND CAUSING

QUITE THE COMMOTION ON THIS ICELANDIC PENINSULA. >> FOLLOWING THAT 2021 EVENT, THERE WERE TWO MORE MAJOR ERUPTIONS, ONE IN 2022 AND ANOTHER IN JULY OF THIS YEAR, NEAR THE LITTLE RAM MOUNTAIN. ALL OF THOSE WERE IN REMOTE AREAS, AWAY FROM TOWNS AND INFRASTRUCTURE.

SO THEY WERE LESS OF A THREAT, MORE OF A SIGHT TO SEE. >> OH, IT’S SO NICE! IT FEELS LIKE A MUSIC FESTIVAL HERE TO HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE AROUND. >> EACH VOLCANO HAS ITS OWN UNIQUE LIFE CYCLE. SOME ERUPT OFTEN. OTHERS ARE DORMANT OR HUNDREDS

OR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, BUT ONCE A VOLCANIC SYSTEM BECOMES ACTIVE, OR RE-ACTIVE, A NEW PHASE OF THAT CYCLE IS TRIGGERED. >> THE LIKELIHOOD IS THAT WE WILL HAVE SOME MORE EVENTS LIKE THIS IN THAT REGION. IT COULD BE ONE, TWO, THREE OR FOUR MORE.

IT COULD TAKE ANOTHER FEW YEARS OR EVEN A DECADE. >> SO WHILE ICELAND HOLDS ITS BREATH, AND NO MATTER HOW THIS PLAYS OUT, IT LIKELY WON’T BE THE LAST TIME THEY ARE LEFT WATCHING AND WAITING FOR AN ERUPTION. ♪

A volcano in Iceland is threatening to erupt near a town and a power plant. About That producer Lauren Bird explains the work underway to mitigate danger, and why volcanic eruptions could become a lot more frequent in Iceland.

»»» Subscribe to CBC News to watch more videos:

Connect with CBC News Online:

For breaking news, video, audio and in-depth coverage:
Find CBC News on Facebook:
Follow CBC News on Twitter:
For breaking news on Twitter:
Follow CBC News on Instagram:
Subscribe to CBC News on Snapchat:

Download the CBC News app for iOS:
Download the CBC News app for Android:

»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
For more than 80 years, CBC News has been the source Canadians turn to, to keep them informed about their communities, their country and their world. Through regional and national programming on multiple platforms, including CBC Television, CBC News Network, CBC Radio, CBCNews.ca, mobile and on-demand, CBC News and its internationally recognized team of award-winning journalists deliver the breaking stories, the issues, the analyses and the personalities that matter to Canadians.

Reference