A volcano erupts near Grindavik, Iceland, on June 4, 2024. Recurring earthquakes and lava flows have forced most residents of the town to evacuate.
Photographer: Anton Brink/Anadolu via Getty Images
Iceland Plans for a More Volcanic Future
Living among volcanoes is nothing new in the island nation. But as a new eruptive era begins, the Reykjavik region is honing defenses and rethinking development.
When Kjartan Fridrik Adolfsson and his family fled their home in Grindavik, Iceland, in November 2023, they didn’t know their evacuation would become permanent. For weeks the small fishing town of 3,800 people had been rocked by intensifying earthquakes, and authorities feared a devastating volcanic eruption could be imminent. “We left with nothing but the clothes on our backs,” the 60-year-old accountant says.
Weeks later, fountains of molten rock burst out at the town’s doorstep — part of a series of 11 eruptions that have hit the area since March 2021, with the most recent activity on April 1. The seismic shifts have torn fissures in the landscape, cracked roadways and damaged buildings, while lava flows have destroyed a handful of houses. Today, few residents remain in Grindavik, which is just 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Iceland’s capital and largest city, Reykjavik.