Comments by "Luredreier" (@Luredreier) on "Iceland volcano: 600 new earthquakes hints at ‘rather bleak’ outcome for residents" video.

  1. It depends on a lot of variables. It's less likely to impact other countries because this isn't happening underneath a glacier like that one. The question is where the eruption will happen. It may happen anywhere along a line going from slightly into the sea, going through the northwestern part of the village of Grindavík and northeastwards from there. If the eruption happens in the northern part there's probably very little damage, the power plant has been secured to some degree so it'll probably be okay even if it happens there. If it happens near or in Grindavík it'll be devastating for the locals and the village might cease to exist, but it'll have no impact on other countries. If it happens in the sea just outside the village it could become far more explosive and then it could impact other countries (as well as Grindavík), but then it'll depend on wind directions etc if Europe or the US will be impacted, last time I checked it looked like only Greenland would be, but weather is a changing thing, so a later eruption might impact Europe. Essentially the issue for air traffic is when you mix lava and water under pressure... Liquid water tends to expand explosively when mixed with lava... And tiny rocks and pieces of glass entering a airplane jet engine tends be... Bad...
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  2. Most places are safe. It's been fifty years since last time one of the eruptions where somewhere with people and infrastructure. And that village is built on a lava flow that's like 3 000 years old... So yes, there always a chance but it's not like people on Iceland settle right next to the worst active volcanoes... And Icelandic vulcanoes are very well monitored, more so then most other countries. Also, by comparison the Italians have built cities inside the caldera of a active volcano... If you want to go there right now it's perfectly safe to visit Iceland. Most of Iceland, even most of the peninsula where the eruption is expected to take place is perfectly safe. All that's at danger here is the geothermal powerplant, the blue lagoon and its spa and the village of Grindavík. All people and animals have now been evacuated. And people are slowly in the process of getting their belongings out too. If the eruption happens north of the village then it would even be relatively safe to be in Grindavík for a little bit of time. People where evacuated because the earthquakes indicated a possibility that a eruption might happen inside the village, a probability that has been going down quite a lot, but that wouldn't have given people enough time to escape if they'd stay.
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