A volcano in southwest Iceland has erupted, spewing lava and smoke across a large area after weeks of intense earthquake activity, the country’s Meteorological Office has said.
Fearing a significant outbreak on the Reykjanes peninsula, authorities had evacuated the nearly four thousand inhabitants of the fishing town of Grindavik in November after the area was hit by a “seismic swarm” of more than a thousand earthquakes within a twenty-four hour time period.
Just wow!
Aerial footage of the Iceland Volcano pic.twitter.com/rAwiiVPeWy
— Jay (@AckerlandJay) December 19, 2023
“Warning: Eruption has started north of Grindavik by Hagafell,” the Meteorological Office said on its website on Monday, noting that the eruption had begun only a couple of miles from the town and cracks in the ground stretched toward the village located about twenty-five miles (forty kilometers) southwest of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik.
The eruption began at around 10:17 PM GMT after a series of small earthquakes at around 9 PM, the Met Office added.
Iceland – The moment the volcano erupts🌋 pic.twitter.com/nmS7GAGa0l
— 🇬🇧RonEnglish🇬🇧🏴 (@RonEng1ish) December 19, 2023
Images and livestreams by local news outlet RUV showed lava spewing from fissures in the ground.
“Seismic activity together with measurements from GPS devices indicate that the magma is moving to the southwest and the eruption may continue in the direction of Grindavik,” the Meteorological Office said.
Volcano in Iceland caused a crack in the earth’s surface
The crack in the earth’s surface was around 2.1 miles (3.5 km) long and had grown rapidly, it was added.
Some 3,530 to 7,060 cubic feet (100 to 200 cubic meters) of lava emerged per second, several times more than in previous eruptions in the area, Icelandic seismologist Kristin Jonsdottir told public broadcaster RUV.
Local police said they had raised their alert level as a result of the outbreak and the country’s civil defense warned the public not to approach the area while emergency personnel assessed the situation.
Reykjavik’s international airport, which is located nearby, remained open albeit with numerous delays listed for both arrivals and departures. Iceland’s foreign minister, Bjarne Benediktsson said on X that there are “no disruptions to flights to and from Iceland and international flight corridors remain open.”
The Reykjanes peninsula in recent years has seen several eruptions in unpopulated areas, but the latest outbreak could pose a risk to the Grindavik town, authorities have said. Although residents had been allowed to return to their homes between 7 AM and 9 PM each day, and some businesses had reopened, they were not allowed to stay overnight or walk around the town.
They had been waiting for an update this week to find out whether the evacuation rules would be lifted in time for Christmas. The area had seen thousands of earthquakes in the last two months, but the magnitudes had declined in recent weeks, leading some experts to think the risk of an eruption had abated.
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