Just before dawn on January 14, a kilometer-long volcanic fissure opened in the ground just north of the Icelandic town of Grindavík. Instead of roaring from a conical mountain, effusive fountains of crimson lava bled upward from this schism. Soon after, a smaller second fissure opened across the frost-flecked earth. Although intense, the eruption was mercifully brief—but it still destroyed three houses in the northeastern section of the town, which had been preemptively evacuated. Two days later, people displaced from Grindavík gathered at a sports hall in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavík to hear from politicians, scientists, and emergency managers and to discuss their town’s future. During the forum, Grindavík resident Bryndís Gunnlaugsdóttir said that the day that the eruption ended was the worst of her life because she discovered that her house had survived the invasion.
That may seem like a bizarre response to a volcanic eruption. But this is the new reality for Grindavík’s 3,600 residents. The January eruption was the second in as many months, and scientists are confident that the town will be imperiled by many more short but intense outbursts of lava emerging from any number of fissures for years to come—making Grindavík essentially uninhabitable.
Only homes that were directly affected by molten rock were eligible for monetary compensation, according to residents who attended the January gathering. If my house had burned down, I would have gained financial independence. I would be able to start a new home and this noose around my neck would be gone,” Gunnlaugsdóttir said at the forum.
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