A volcano in Iceland erupted on Sunday after tons of of earthquakes shook the Reykjanes Peninsula, prompting evacuations in a city close to the place a fissure opened up and spewed lava final month.
The eruption occurred round 8 a.m. native time close to Hagafell, north of the city of Grindavik, in accordance with native information media and the nation’s civil protection company. It created a crack within the earth greater than 3,200 ft lengthy, with glowing lava effervescent by means of, the authorities stated. That crack has continued to elongate within the hours since, the authorities stated, endangering Grindavik, a fishing city of about 3,500 individuals.
Round 3 a.m. Sunday, not less than 200 earthquakes started hanging the world close to Grindavik, about 30 miles southwest of the capital, Reykjavik, in accordance with the Icelandic Meteorological Workplace. The civil protection company acted rapidly and ordered Grindavik to be evacuated nicely earlier than the eruption.
The eruption on Sunday was smaller than the one in December, however the lava stream may nonetheless attain Grindavik, warned Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, a volcanologist who advises the civil protection company.
“Primarily based on the most recent developments, the eruption seems prone to attain the northern finish of Grindavik by at the moment,” Mr. Gudmundsson stated after viewing the eruption from a Coast Guard helicopter.
After a forceful begin — with fountains of lava reaching 160 ft — the lava stream may nonetheless decelerate, Mr. Gudmundsson stated.
“This early,” he stated, “we don’t know what to anticipate.”
Nonetheless, the fissure cracked by means of limitations that have been constructed to guard the city from a lava stream, and lava on Sunday had already come as shut as lower than a quarter-mile from Grindavik’s northernmost neighborhoods, stated Hjordis Gudmundsdottir, a spokeswoman for the protection company.
The fissure additionally ran near the Svartsengi energy plant, a geothermal facility that provides scorching water to your complete peninsula. Emergency employees rapidly prolonged an current rampart defending the ability plant and the city, avoiding catastrophe, Iceland’s public broadcaster reported.
The eruption additionally neared the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa that’s one in all Iceland’s hottest vacationer sights. Neither the resort nor the ability plant is in rapid hazard, the authorities stated.
The newest eruption occurred alongside a row of volcanoes on the Reykjanes Peninsula, making a glowing and winding river of lava. It has not disrupted air journey to or from Iceland, in accordance with updates from Keflavik Worldwide Airport.
Whereas volcanic eruptions will not be unusual in Iceland, volcanoes on the Reykjanes Peninsula had been dormant for about 800 years till 2021. Since then, there have been 4 eruptions on the peninsula, the place about two-thirds of Iceland’s inhabitants lives.
Andrés R. Martínez contributed reporting from Seoul.
