AFTER FOUR WEEKS OF INCESSANT seismic activity disrupting their sleep, a certain loopiness began to take hold of the longsuffering residents of Grindavík. By 10 November 2023, many people had left this small fishing town on the south-west coast of Iceland. Plenty more, though, went about their Friday night plans as usual. Oblivious to the scale of the volcanic timebomb ticking under their home, Brynhildur Blomsterberg, 58, and her partner, Ólafur Sigurpálsson, 75, were preparing to host their joint birthday party and were expecting 20 guests.
"We had hundreds of lamb chops to get ready," says Blomsterberg, a nurse. "We were frying and the town was just shaking." When, at about midday on Friday, she called Sigurpálsson to suggest they move the celebrations out of Grindavík, the former sailor and fish exporter said no, reassuring her it would die down. There was an element of business-as-usual: Grindavík had experienced regular earthquakes since 2020, and three volcanic eruptions in as many years. Sure enough, 12 guests made it to their house, just as parts of the town started cracking open, including the main street. Some of the fissures were 20 metres deep.
Denne historien er fra May 31, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra May 31, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Starlink's conquest of the Amazon leaves Brazil in a dilemma
The helicopter swooped into one of the most inaccessible corners of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian special forces commandos leaped from it into the caiman-inhabited waters below.
Dalai Lama's mountain town feels the strain of tourist boom
SUVs and saloon cars pass slowly along McLeod Ganj's narrow one-way Jogiwara Road, blaring horns at pedestrians and scooter riders and playing loud music.
'I am all the world' The brutal rule of a West Bank settler
Palestinians tell ofblacklisted Yakov's reign across the Jabal Salman valley and heisjust one of many violent bosses
Stormy waters New flashpoint emerges in South China Sea dispute
Hopes that tensions in the South China Sea might ease have been short lived.
'Justice delayed' Why trust in public inquiries to bring closure is fading
After the final report of the Grenfell fire inquiry was published, Hisam Choucair, who lost six family members in the blaze, said: \"We did not ask for this inquiry... It's delayed the justice my family deserves.\"
Celeriac soup with almond pangrattato
I'm not ashamed to say that as soon as September hits, my stick blender comes out. Just as I embrace salads when the clocks go forward in the UK, I wholeheartedly throw myself into soup season once the summer holidays end. Autumn is approaching in the northern hemisphere and I'm ready with my ladle. Celeriac is one of my favourite soup heroes, because it gives the creamiest, silkiest finish with little effort. You don't have to make the almond pangrattato, but it is a wonderful addition.
Are smoke signals telling me to make an oil change in the kitchen?
Should you that is, not can you) cook with extra-virgin olive oil? Antonio, Atlanta, Georgia, US
Going underground
A darkly humorous encounter between an American spy-cop and the members ofan eco-commune she is hired to infiltrate
All work and no play
Hard Graft, a powerfulnew London exhibition, focuses onworkers’ exploitation, from the ruined hands ofa washerwoman to mothers forced to sell their bodies
What the princess and the shaman tell us about hereditary privilege
It should have been an Instagram-perfect wedding image, but it turned out to be something more embarrassing.
