Iceland’s Recent Volcanic Eruption Shows Reawakened Long-Dormant Fault Line
Japan’s coastline shifted more than 800 feet after the devastating Jan 1. earthquake.
I have a couple of updates to some Earth-shattering stories I covered recently.
The volcano that erupted in Iceland at the end of last year is active again, destroying homes in the nearby fishing town.
Iceland’s president said the country is battling “tremendous forces of nature” after molten lava from a volcano in the island’s southwest consumed several houses in the evacuated town of Grindavik.
…President Gudni Th. Johannesson said in a televised address late Sunday that “a daunting period of upheaval has begun on the Reykjanes Peninsula” where a long-dormant volcanic system has awakened.
A volcano on the peninsula erupted for the second time in less than a month on Sunday, with orange lava bursting through two fissures near the fishing town of Grindavik. Authorities had ordered residents to leave hours earlier as a swarm of small earthquakes indicated an imminent eruption.
All indications point to a long-dormant fault line under the country waking up and will likely release lava with little warning for years to come.
The island straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a crack in the ocean floor separating the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.
Sunday’s eruption was the fifth in fewer than three years on the Reykjanes peninsula, which had not previously seen one in centuries.
“After eight centuries of a relative break and a complete cessation of surface activity, we have entered a new episode of plate separation which could last several years—possibly decades,” volcanologist Patrick Allard from France’s Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris told AFP.
There is also an update on the situation in Japan, which is recovering from the devastating earthquake swarm on New Year’s Day.
Satellite images showed that the coastline of Japan’s Noto Peninsula was moved over 800 feet following a massive earthquake on New Year’s Day.
A 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck Japan on Jan. 1 around 2:10 a.m. EST (0710 GMT, or 4:10 p.m. local time in Japan), prompting orders for residents to evacuate affected coastal areas that experienced significant uplift. Satellite imagery of the area before and after the quake shows that the intense uplift extended the coastline by up to 820 feet (250 meters), which is greater than the length of two American football fields.
Images of Japan’s Noto Peninsula shared on X (formerly Twitter) by Nahel Belgherze show coastal areas where the seafloor has risen above the water, creating newly exposed beaches. The photos capture the coastline changes after the earthquake and tsunami had already subsided, leaving some ports completely dry and inaccessible to boats.
The earthquake that struck Japan’s Noto peninsula on Monday was so strong that the coastline has moved up to 250 meters offshore due to significant land uplift. pic.twitter.com/XpxBMLRTUU
— Nahel Belgherze (@WxNB_) January 4, 2024
Recovery operations continue in the region. The US will deploy two military helicopters to aid relief efforts in communities cut off by the disaster.
“Two Blackhawk helicopters will supplement Japan’s fleet assisting to move supplies and personnel,” U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The U.S. aircraft will begin relief operations on Wednesday, Japan’s Minister of Defense Minoru Kihara said at a press briefing.
…The scale of the U.S. assistance could expand over the coming days, the source added, asking to remain anonymous because they are not authorised to speak to the media.
More than 220 people are confirmed to have died in the quake that destroyed thousands of homes, vital infrastructure and knocked out power in the area. Relief efforts have been hampered by strong aftershocks that could trigger fresh landslides and further damage weakened structures.
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Comments
You all just had to call up the Old Ones from the Deep, didn’t you?
Perhaps we need to sacrifice a virgin or two to the gods!
That outta fix the problem.
Now, where to find a couple of virgins in the Tik Tok era…
“You all just had to call up the Old Ones from the Deep, didn’t you?”
And there is a downside to this?
Did you expect Lori Lightfoot to not ask for family re-unification?
Easy now. My wife is in Iceland but says she sees no lava.
the world is NOT falling apart ..
its falling into place.
I believe we will see the return
of the Lord Jesus sooner then later.
personally I would make sure I had asked for forgiveness, and made sure I had done what was required
to be adopted into the family of GOD.
Also, proof that Nature is out to get us, constantly. People need to understand she is NOT ‘tamed’. We have NOT overcome Nature with our technology. People petting bison in Yellowstone get that concept individually. Maybe the climate-scared will get that idea on a larger scale when their houses tumble into the sea or a volcano melts their house.
Geology
I am all for house along Martha’s Vinyard to be first to tumble into the sea. Mother Nature is surely pissed that they rejected “Her” children from Central America.
/s
Please note the sarcasm identifier.
It’s Trump’s fault.
So when does his trial for this start?
Ask
JudyMerrick Garland.Awesome pun.
anyone got eyes on what cthulhu been up to???
Well, latest reports suggest she’s visiting Chelsea…
Iceland’s president said the country is battling “tremendous forces of nature” –
Is Iceland’s president a descendant of King Canute the Great?
The lava is a LOT hotter than the tide. I’d advise not sitting in a chair and letting the lava lap at your feet.
I guess that there is a price to be paid for unlimited geothermal power. It does have considerable benefits.
Very slight movement can move a coastline a huge amount because it’s really water movement, not so much land movement.
It’s the geological equivalent of dividing by zero.
We need to be careful. It might tip over.
Is Hank Johnson available for consultations?
Climate change
We need more money
If iceland residents have been driving EVs that volcano would have been less hot, right?
Hey, they get most of their heat from geothermal. If they all turned the thermostats up to 100 that might slow it down some.
Arne Saknussemm is at it again.
What effect would that have on shrinking the polar ice?
Greta has proof that volcanic eruptions are triggered by fracking. Volcanos never blew before fracking. Don’t you believe in sCieNce?
Greta is dumb and ugly, The dumb part is worse.
Climate change 🙂
“Iceland’s president said the country is battling “tremendous forces of nature” “… ah … How? Spoiler alert: You won’t win.
When the 9.2 earthquake hit Alaska in 1964, the entire Kenai Peninsula was tilted. The side bordering the Gulf of Alaska had areas that were lifted up and for Seward, sank the railroad yard below sea level while parts on the Cook Inlet side sank…. as seen with Girdwood and Portage. A huge crevasse opened up at Valdez and swallowed shipping at dockside as the bay emptied into the hole. Humans are just in the cheap seats watching this play out.
Not climate change, this is probably a precursor to the upcoming planet conjunction that may peak in October, just before election day.
Also,
“There is a theory that sunspots causing magnetic field changes actually lead to volcanic eruptions on Earth, which extrapolates that in about October 2024 we can expect a large eruption.”
A different form of October surprise.
Iceland’s government seems to be doing a good job staying on top of events, I wish we could say the same for ours.
Since the events are right below their feet…..