There has been more than 800 earthquakes and thousands of tremors in Iceland since last Friday and more than 4,000 residents have been forced to evacuate the town of Grindavik.
The town of Grindavik was split in two as a result of seismic activity and a state of emergency has been declared over a possible volcanic eruption.
There are fears that Iceland “could be ripped apart” and the town of Grindavik could be “frozen in time like Pompeii.”
Roads have been closed, tourist attractions have been shut down and towns in the path of the lava expected to come have all been evacuated.
Giant bulldozers are digging a 3.5 mile ditch to create earth mounds in an attempt to stop the lava and workers are building a wall around the Svartsengi power plant.
Police have put up checkpoints around what they call the “red zone” as there is a smell of sulphur dioxide gas, which means that magma is close to the surface.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office warned, “Due to the release of tension, it is likely that the magma will have an easy way to the surface.”
Kristjan Rargrarssan, a search and rescue worker in Iceland, told The Mirror: “It is the red zone, the area with the most earthquakes, the most cracks and the most volcanic activity.”
British expat Anne Sigurdsson, 66, moved to Iceland seven years ago with her husband, Siggi.
She said, “People are apprehensive and everyone feels so much for those evacuated as we know it could so easily be us too.
“This island could be ripped apart. We fear Grindavik could end up frozen in time like Pompeii. On Friday afternoon, it was like shake, rattle, and roll here.
“You hear it before you feel it, it’s like thunder in the ground. Everything was shaking and the house was creaking. It was like being inside one of those snow globes and being shaken around.”
Sigurdsson added, “If it goes where they say it is going to, the lava could go to the power plant and the water plant. Already house prices have taken a hit so many people could end up with nothing.
“Nobody is going to want to live here.”
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