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The magma chamber threatening the grindavik area has erupted again just before 8:00am.

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For a week now, the town of Grindavik [Google Earth] in Iceland has been ravaged by underground volcanic activity. It's a fishing town situated southwest iceland along the coast. It's on the Reykjanes peninsula which is the youngest area of Iceland formed 2000-3000 years ago from volcanic activity.

In early November, uplifting occurred to the northwest of Grindavik. On Thursday November 9th, larger quakes were recorded to the northeast of Grindavik. These earthquakes spread to the southwest through the town and out into the ocean. At the same time, a noticible depression was now present.

Scientists concluded that a new magma chamber had formed. It was 9.5 miles long at ~1/2 mile below the surface [15 kilometers at 800 meters]. A large portion of it was centered directly underneath Grindavik's western edge, its residential district.

A state of emergency was declared and the entire town (excepting emergency workers) was evacuated. This displaced approximately 1% of their entire population. There was a brief window where some people got back in to gather some personal effects\pets\etc., and only to the eastern part of town, but conditions have worsened and there is no access.

Presumably, the initial flow caused the landmass the town sits on to raise up. The magma then retreated (maybe back northeast) leaving a void and causing subsidence. This shifting (and the subsequent hundreds of earthquakes a day) have practically sealed the towns fate already. Cracks have become fissures and houses are skewing. Their infrastructure and their very ground is taking serious damage. It is a disaster of epic proportion.

Sadly, the worst may be yet to arrive. Everyone is still very unsure about specifics regarding magma turning into lava, but the general scientific concensus is that an eruption is both likely and imminent. When's and where's are largely unknown, though it if breaches under the ocean, things get even more complicated. A seafloor breach would create a more unpredictable and explosive scenario. The model I saw gave high probability to a series of vents northeast of Grindavik (the Hagafell region?) as the most likely, but the local folks seem to think that Grindavik itself is the most likely place for an eruption. Others say that it will sink into the sea.

There are live broadcasts of the area that feature multiple camera angles and live earthquake mapping. A more detailed scientific explanation from geology professor Shawn Willsey.

A barrage of hundreds of earthquakes, including two exceeding a magnitude of 5.0 and at least seven topping 4.5, rattled Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula on Friday. The seismic swarm suggests the eruption of an area volcano in the hours or day ahead and has prompted the Icelandic Meteorological Office to declare a Civil Protection Emergency Level.

The Fagradalsfjall volcano is in Iceland’s southern peninsula region, about 25 miles southwest of Reykjavik, the country’s capital. A number of tremors have shaken the city, and the famed Blue Lagoon geothermal spa in Grindavik has been closed. It was initially unclear whether Fagradalsfjall was responsible for the increased seismic activity or whether an eruption was brewing elsewhere within the Reykjanes volcanic system.

Shortly before midnight local time, all of Grindavik was asked to evacuate. At 11:30 p.m. local time, the Meteorological Office warned that volcanic fissures could open near or within the town.

“Based on how the seismic activity has evolved since 6 PM today, along with results from GPS measurements, there is a likelihood that a magma intrusion has extended beneath Grindavík,” the office wrote.

Experts believe that a magmatic dike may have formed directly below the town. Dikes are sheets of magma that flow through existing fractures in rock or generate a new crack. The largest volcanoes may contain hundreds of dikes.

A Code Orange — or a Level 3 out of 4 on the universal ground-based volcano alerting scale — has been declared, raising concerns at Keflavik International Airport, which sits just northwest of the seismically active region.

The region has experienced intermittent eruptions since 2021, yet the incipient eruption will probably be markedly more intense.

“The amount of magma involved is significantly more than what was observed in the largest magma intrusions associated with the eruptions at Fagradalsfjall,” the Meteorological Office said.

The office had warned Friday afternoon that earthquakes were located about two miles northeast of Grindavik, with the fault slips occurring about two to three miles below the ground. Earthquakes crept toward the community of 3,300 around sunset.

“The seismic activity has moved south towards Grindavík,” the Meteorological Office said.

“The signs that can be seen now … are similar to those seen on the eve of the first eruption at Fagradalsfjall in 2021, and are very similar to the seismic activity that was measured about a month before that eruption,” the office had cautioned in an earlier update. It had previously estimated that it would take several days for magma to reach the surface and the imminent eruption to begin.

What are supervolcanoes and should we really be worried about them?

Already, the quaking has ruptured roadways. It appears that up to three inches of uplift, or vertical movement of the ground, has occurred near the volcano.

A total of 295 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater had been detected in the previous 72 hours, with upward of 90 percent of those occurring in the past day.

While Iceland is tectonically and volcanically active, the region around the Fagradalsfjall volcano had lain dormant for over 6,300 years until December 2019. That’s when a flurry of earthquakes, including two that reached magnitude 5.6, rattled the peninsula. Then on Feb. 4, 2021, a magnitude-5.7 earthquake caused minor damage to homes. Six weeks later, on March 19, the volcano erupted, with a roughly 2,000-foot-long fissure started spewing lava.

The fissure was later named Geldingadalsgos, representing a possible new shield volcano — a broad volcano with gently sloping sides — and it attracted widespread tourism. Several other fissures opened in April, but only one remained active in May 2021. Another eruption from a separate fissure of Fagradalsfjall took place on Aug. 3, 2022.

Then this past summer, in early July, a new eruption began near Litli-Hrutur, also part of the Fagradalsfjall volcano. It was about 10 times as big as the first two eruptions. It diminished by Aug. 5.

Live triple cam feed here.

The Pittsburgh Steeler starters looked to be quite sharp yesterday, beating up on the Bills.

The offense saw good performances from all three quarterbacks. The starters would get two touchdowns before the first quarter was halfway over, second string would get another in the third quarter followed by (2) field goals in the fourth quarter.

Special teams pinned Buffalo behind their own ten-yard line not just once but three times following kickoffs/punts.

The defense, Pittsburgh's long time centerpiece, performed quite well. Having said that, their zone defense is still ineffective against a passing offense.

Their running game again looked sad and pathetic. Taking away Jaylen Warrens (62)-yard barely touched touchdown sprint in the first quarter, the remaining (9) runners combined for another (59) yards from (32) attempts. That's just over half a yard a carry kids.

The center made a few bad snaps for the second week in a row, one resulting in a turnover.

The Buffalo Bills did not look so good at all in the first half. They were undisciplined taking (12) penalties for (90) yards in the first half alone. This was essentially their sole undoing.

The Bills offense played much better the second half versus the non-starters and they mostly ceased taking penalties but it was too little too late.

Deservedly so, sixty people in Buffalo are going to get their asses ripped on Monday, possibly review the rules of the game again.

Best wishes to Tommy Doyle of Buffalo, who left late in the game with a leg injury.

And congrats to Joey Porter of Pittsburgh for his first of many interceptions.

Hardcore Henry (2015) [ Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi ]

A cybernetically enhanced man attempts to save his wife from a maniacal wizard.

Yeah, the description makes it sound so played, but this is really one of the better movies I've seen in the last decade. It's mostly an action flick in a futuristic setting. Admittedly, there is a twist that can make the first watch a bit confusing, but it's part of its charm.

Lots of brutality and violence, a fair amount of cursing and nudity and pretty much non-stop action cement this in as an excellent 'dude' flick. It also features a fantastic cast that really bring their characters to life. It also has a great ending.