Iceland Volcano Eruption Spills Lava, Setting Houses on Fire

A volcano eruption in Iceland spilled lava that set the fishing town of Grindavik on the Reykjanes peninsula on fire in the early hours of Sunday.

The eruption is proving to be “the worst-case scenario,” according to one expert, with the entire population of the town being evacuated.

Defenses built after an eruption in December have partially contained the lava, but some have been breached. The main road into the town has been cut off by the flow of lava. On Monday, Icelandic authorities said the flow of molten rock appeared to have slowed down.

First houses catch fire in Grindavík Iceland after eruption fissure opens next to the village. The fissure died out tonight but 3 houses burned down. The town is still in danger with a bigger eruption with heavy lava flow getting near the town.#Vulcano #IcelandVolcano #Eruption pic.twitter.com/562ZBNnktS

— Heiðrún Bergsdóttir (@Hofsfreyja) January 15, 2024

Addressing the nation in a live broadcast on Sunday evening, Iceland’s President Gudni Johannesson urged people to “stand together and have compassion for those who cannot be in their homes”.

He said he hoped the situation would settle down but that “anything can happen,” the AFP news agency reported.

Geophysicist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson said Monday morning that the eruption had “decreased considerably” overnight. However, it was impossible to say when it would end.

Grindavik, a town of 3,800 people about 30 miles southwest of the capital, Reykjavik, was previously evacuated in November when the Svartsengi volcanic system awakened after almost eight hundred years.

Iceland volcano erupted in December

The volcano eventually erupted on December 18th, sending lava flowing away from Grindavik. Residents were allowed to return to their homes on December 22nd.

Since then, emergency workers have been building defensive walls that have stopped much of the lava flow from the new eruption short of the town.

Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir said the government would be meeting to discuss housing measures for evacuated residents.

“Today is a black day for Grindavik and today is a black day for all of Iceland, but the sun will rise again,” she said. “Together we will deal with this shock and whatever may come. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.”

The country’s alert level has been raised to “emergency,” the highest of the three-level scale which signals there could be a threat of harm to people, communities, property, or the environment.

Iceland, which sits above a volcanic hot spot in the North Atlantic, averages one eruption every four to five years. The most disruptive in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed clouds of ash into the atmosphere and disrupted trans-Atlantic air travel for months.

The latest eruption isn’t expected to release large amounts of ash into the air. Operations at Keflavík Airport are continuing as normal, said Gudjon Helgason, spokesman for airport operator Isavia.

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