I live next to an Icelandic volcano that's about to blow. I wanted to be closer to nature, but not that close.

• A volcano under the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland could erupt within days.

• The eruption site is likely to be near the town of Grindavik, which has been evacuated.

• Grindavik resident Sigurdur Leosson explains what it is like to have a home in the town.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sigurdur Leosson, a resident of the fishing town Grindavik in Iceland which is under threat from a volcano. Authorities asked residents of Grindavik to evacuate on November 11 after a series of earthquakes showed a rapid and unexpected acceleration of activity under the town. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.

We're used to earthquakes in Iceland and they don't usually bother us. This one, however, was different. It was like there was a monster under our feet.

We could feel the magma climbing to the surface. It was like something was trying to break through.

Earthquakes usually last maybe a few seconds or a minute, but this lasted 30 minutes to an hour. I was in the garage and my wife was in the kitchen when everything started shaking violently.

We were thrown around and had to get hold of something to keep from falling over. It was like the walls were coming toward us. There was constant shaking and vibration and sounds like thunder.

Three years ago, when we bought our villa in Grindavik, the idea was to retire in a quiet community. We wanted to be closer to nature, but not that close.

When we got the house, the Reykjanes peninsula had been dormant for a long time. We knew it was getting close to a period where it could erupt again, but no one was really thinking about it.

Earthquakes would shake the house and knock things off the shelves every so often. But we didn't feel threatened.

But the earthquake we felt on November 10, at around 5 p.m., was very terrifying. As soon as it was over, my neighbor came to check on me. He was pale and in shock. "There's an eruption coming," he said. "I'm not staying here."

We couldn't think of being a minute longer in this place. We collected a few things and got out of town.

Most others did the same. It was too scary to stay. There were cracks in the roads and things were moving. Everyone felt like they were running for their lives.

With the few things we gathered, we went to stay with family in Reykjavik.

A few days later, authorities told us we could go back in for just 10 minutes to collect some things. When we arrived, we saw some houses had been cracked open in the middle. There was already huge damage to the town.

We rushed to take a few pictures or photo albums, things that have some sentimental value. We feel lucky we managed to escape with most of the things that we would miss. Most people didn't.

Now we can't go back home. It's forbidden. Our villa is situated in maybe the most dangerous place because it's sitting on top of the magma, in the western part of the city. Scientists told us it is sinking 12 cm [about 4.5 inches] every day.

Even if this eruption doesn't happen, the mayor says the town may never be the same. There's so much damage to the infrastructure, it could take months to fix. A lot of people may decide not to go back at all because of damaged houses or just because of the shock.

In some ways, it may be better for the lava to cover the house than to move into a damaged home. We're a wealthy country, and authorities take good care of their people. People will be getting the money back from the government to move somewhere else.

People in Iceland are used to this. We know someone who left the Westman islands where there was a huge eruption in 1973 to set up a firm under Eyjafjallaj?kull. He left that to go to Grindavik, now he's leaving Grindavik again. Now everyone is joking and asking him: Where are you going next?

Still, 4,000 people live in Grindavik. It's home to about 200 companies, and it contributes a lot of the country's fishing quota. It's a very wealthy community, that offers lots of work for everyone. So I think most people will feel very bad that they can't come back to how it used to be.

We bought this house and we made everything beautiful. We made a nice garden — it was a lot of work. We didn't quite expect this to happen. But we are calm people. A house is a house.

I don't think we'll come back, but we just don't know, we have to wait and see. We will probably watch on TV when our house is going under.

Read the original article on Business Insider