We are here at Fagradalsfjall volcano. It's the 6th of July, 2023. And the reason why we're here is because
there has been a lot of shaking going on. Earthquakes, seismic activity and now scientists
are wondering if it's going to erupt again. I'm Ragga and I'm the co-founder of Lava Show and a lava ambassador, I like to call myself. And I have always been extremely fascinated
with volcanoes, geology and lava. And basically what we are now
looking at is that there may be yet another eruption on the horizon. And what's interesting about that
is that Iceland is one of the most volcanically active places on Earth and
the reason for this is actually twofold. First of all, we have basically the Mid-Atlantic
ridge that splits Iceland into two parts and, as it is, the ridges are basically
pulling the country in opposite directions and this makes room for magma to
actually travel towards the surface. So that's one reason. The other reason
is because Iceland happens to be right on top of a very massive
mantle plume and this mantle plume, or "hot spot" as it's sometimes referred to, actually is pushing magma
constantly up to the surface So these two things are the
reasons why Iceland is one of the most volcanically active places on Earth. If you're interested in this thing, I would
like to point out that we have this book on sale in the Grapevine Store and you
can go and order it now if you like. Right where we're standing now, this is actually
probably about a 1,000 year old lava field and then right next to us, there's
a lava field that is one year old and the contrast is obvious. I mean, here we have
the lava, we have the beautiful moss all over and it's like seemingly
just smooth and like stones. But, as you can see, the new
lava it's completely black it's very rough and it's absolutely not
safe to walk on. Be mindful of that. And just see how rough it is. It's still like, it's not warm feeling so I
wouldn't burn myself even touch it, but I would absolutely advise against
actually walking on it. There can be holes and there can be dangers looming underneath. But what's really interesting about
this, the eruption last year for those of you if we if we should remind
ourselves a little bit how it worked
So, back in 2021 there was a series of
earthquakes that took place for about three weeks and it was a very concentrated seismic period
where there was thousands of earthquakes indicating that magma was Rising towards the
surface. And that's exactly what happened. And then the fissure opened up and the magma
came up and now the lava started flowing. But then about six months
later the eruption stopped. And then for about a year and everything was quiet
until last year, 2022, in August when suddenly for a brief amount of time there
was a lot of seismic activity again. Earthquakes were taking
place and, a few days later, the crater over there opened up and
this lava field started coming out. It was a small eruption so
it was actually safe to walk up to the area and just explore
at the wonders that is nature. It was absolutely fantastic and now what we're seeing is that the seismic
activity has started again. Fagradalsfjall, which had actually been
dormant and sleeping for 6,000 years, has definitely come back
to life – that's for sure. A little bit farther in the distance
on the slope there you can actually see that there's lava from the 2021 eruption that was flowing down that slope and actually
right over there on the mountain top you can see the very top of the biggest crater. So what is basically happening is that the first
eruption was happening the farthest away from us. The eruption last year then
took place a little bit closer. But now what we're looking at is actually that the sort of most concentration of the earthquakes that we're
seeing is actually happening between where the lava flowed last year and the mountain that we see there
in the distance called Keilir. So most of the seismic activity that's been
going on has been somewhere on that line. So speculation basically is that if it will
erupt again it may happen somewhere in this area. So let me actually explain what's going on. So we are in the Reykjanes
peninsula and we are actually in an area where there's no magma chambers. So what basically is going on is
that when magma is travelling up to the surface it's coming straight from the mantle and what basically happens is that
the magma is travelling up and creating something that we call a magma intrusion or a dyke, if you will. And it's actually very distinctive
in shape. So what happens in this magma intrusion is that it's very very very thin but it goes miles and miles, both lateral and
vertical, and it's a little bit like this paper. So basically what we have
is the inside of the crust, we have basically an area that
looks a little bit like this that's just magma and then that's where all
the seismic activity is happening and then at some point the magma may actually breach the surface
and travel all the way up and lava will start pouring over the surface again and this
is where it might happen. Right here. Somewhere between the previous lava
field and Keilir. Quite exciting. So even if you don't necessarily see a lot of
people here right now, the area actually is open But there is a level of uncertainty and that basically means that the
authorities have warned that an eruption may take place at any given
time. So there's definitely a risk factor. And therefore if you really do want
to come here you absolutely can but you just have to pay attention to
risk factors and be really mindful of how to react, you know, around volcanic eruptions And the thing is, the reason why the
authorities have actually kept the area open is because they basically trust the Icelandic people to be the judge of
how to behave around an eruption site. And that's why, you know, it could be a
good idea to pay attention to the locals. We're in civil protection in Iceland we are all about safety we recommend people
not to be at the area right now because we really don't know what is going
to happen. We think the eruption will be at the area at any time now. So please do not go there. It is not safe.
It is not forbidden to walk at the area, but we really recommend not to do it. One of the reasons it's dangerous to be there is
the gas. So if you're there you can smell the gas. So if you can, please try to, yeah, go
away, walk away and go as high as you can. When I was younger I was raised with a lot
of stories about volcanoes and eruptions and particularly how they basically
affected the people living in Iceland. And that's always been an aspect that's fascinated me and so as I grew older
every chance there was to go to an eruption site and just see this kind of spectacle firsthand
I took.And so, you know, back in 2010 my husband and I we actually went to
the erupson site at Fimmvörðuháls. Oh, it was amazing. It was so incredible. There was a lava fall, so just exchanged lava
with water with lava and you get what I mean. And it sparked the idea to actually create a
show where people would be able to experience real flowing lava in a safe environment. So that's actually what we
did. We founded a company we opened up Lava Show first in Vík on the south coast and then in Reykjavik. And we there have a
show where you get to experience real lava in a completely safe environment and
you get to learn a lot about how, you know, the history of Icelandic volcanism it's a very educational show and
very connected to the culture. So what a day! It's been amazing
and thank you all for staying with us. We are quite excited about the developments and we hope you are, too. Whatever will happen, we will definitely
report on it so don't miss anything. Stay tuned Oh wow did you feel that one
