(Bloomberg) -- Iceland’s main tourist attraction, Blue Lagoon, will close its operations for at least a week as an underground magma intrusion forming only a few hundred meters away from the geothermal seawater spa is raising the risk of an eruption.
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The spa cited “interruption in guest experience” and “strain on staff” as reasons for the shuttering, according to a statement on Thursday. Still, there is presently no sign of an eruption underway, Benedikt Ofeigsson, geophysicist at Iceland’s Met office, said by phone.
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Magma keeps accumulating in a horizontal sill at a depth of about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) and the seismic activity is likely to continue, according to Met Office. The area is about 40 kilometers away from the capital and close to Grindavik, a fishing town of about 3,600 people. An eruption at the site could also threaten a power plant which provides heat for 30,000 inhabitants of the Reykjanes peninsula.
Read More: Iceland’s Top Attraction Blue Lagoon on Alert for Magma Flows
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Author: Ragnhildur Sigurdardottir