Twelfth volcanic eruption in four years felt in Iceland near capital

Residents successful the adjacent sportfishing municipality of Grindavik and guests astatine a luxury geothermal spa edifice are evacuated.

The Sundhnukur volcano has erupted adjacent Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, the 12th volcanic eruption successful the North Atlantic land federation since 2021, the Icelandic Meteorological Office says.

The bureau said successful a connection connected Wednesday greeting that an eruptive fissure successful southwestern Iceland is 700 to 1,000 metres (765 to 1,095 yards) long.

“Lava is mostly flowing to the southeast and is not approaching immoderate infrastructure,” it added. “Based connected GPS measurements and deformation signals, it is apt that this was a comparatively tiny eruption.”

Live images showed flows of lava and fume being belched into the sky.

People were evacuated from the Blue Lagoon, a luxury geothermal spa resort, and the adjacent sportfishing municipality of Grindavik, according to the nationalist broadcaster RUV, which quoted police.

Rather than flowing from a cardinal crater, lava from fissure eruptions similar Wednesday’s appears from agelong cracks successful the Earth’s crust.

Iceland, which is often referred to arsenic a onshore of crystal and fire, has present recorded a twelve volcanic eruptions since geological systems connected its Reykjanes Peninsula reactivated 4 years ago.

The Reykjanes eruptions person truthful acold neither posed a menace to adjacent Reykjavik nor person they caused aerial postulation disruptions, dissimilar the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which grounded planes crossed Northern Europe for astir a week.

Grindavik was location to astir 4,000 radical earlier an evacuation bid was issued successful 2023. Now, it is chiefly deserted due to the fact that of the menace of lava flows and related earthquakes.

In aboriginal April, a volcanic eruption penetrated protective barriers close to Grindavik, and the exigency services evacuated its residents and those staying astatine the Blue Lagoon spa.

Experts person said eruptions connected the peninsula could proceed for decades.

Every year, Iceland, which has a colonisation of astir 400,000 people, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors who travel to research its volcanic landscape.

In 2024, astir 2.3 cardinal foreigners travelled to the island, according to its tourer board.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies