The municipal offices in Grindavík will open in March, and the facilities in the Tollhúsið building in Reykjavík will close. Another eruption is imminent, but the mayor says that it will be possible to evacuate the offices like any other workplace.
Municipal offices will open in Grindavík in March. Fannar Jónasson, the mayor, says it is a symbolic action that demonstrates the will to rebuild the town.
“There has been significant activity at the municipal offices in Grindavík over the past few months, but now this change is being made officially. It’s perhaps also a symbolic action that shows the town authorities’ desire to rebuild the town when conditions allow.”
The offices will officially open on the morning of 10 March, and at the same time, the Grindavík municipal office in the Tollhúsið building in Reykjavík will be closed.
The municipality has been using those facilities since November 2023, when the town was evacuated.
In a statement from the Grindavík town council at yesterday’s meeting, it says: “We are aware of the situation but are thinking hopefully towards home.”
“Of course, an evacuation may be necessary for the municipal offices, just like elsewhere in Grindavík, and it has happened several times – for those who live at home and those running operations there – so this is no different from what we’ve been dealing with in recent months.”
Fannar says that although the town’s tasks have changed in recent times, the municipality largely has the same responsibilities as other municipalities, which will now be handled in Grindavík. It remains to be seen what the next steps in the rebuilding process will be.
“There are now scientists who believe that the end is approaching in the area where the source has been, and we need to be prepared for life to gradually return to the town,” says Fannar.
“Until then, we will just continue as we are and try to handle all tasks related to serving the residents and their businesses.”
Meanwhile, once again, seismic activity has steadily increased near Sundhnúksgígar and Svartsengi. Ten earthquakes have been measured in the last 48 hours, according to Sigríður Magnea Óskarsdóttir, a natural hazard specialist at Veðurstofa Íslands (Icelandic Meteorological Office).
Land uplift and magma accumulation are ongoing beneath Svartsengi, where a greater volume of magma has already accumulated compared to before the eruption that began on 20 November.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office states that an eruption could begin with very little warning.
Source: Ruv.is
