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Volcanic eruption north of the coastal town of Grindavík
Photo: Iceland Civil Protection / REUTERS
Another volcanic eruption has occurred in Iceland. In the morning, a long fissure opened up north of the coastal town of Grindavík, from which glowing red lava bubbled up many meters into the air. A lava field formed around the crack, as seen in live streams from Icelandic broadcaster RÚV.
The weather authority Vedurstofa had recently recorded a renewed accumulation of several million cubic meters of magma below the area and therefore warned that the likelihood of another eruption in the near future had increased.
According to the weather agency, the eruption began around 6 a.m. northeast of Mount Sylingarfell on Thursday, after being announced shortly before by increasing earthquake activity. The crack is about three kilometers long and the lava is initially flowing mainly to the west, the authorities announced this morning. According to RÚV information, there was initially no immediate danger to Grindavík, the nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal baths or a power plant in the area.
The largest and most active volcanic region in Europe
In the volcanic area on the Reykjanes Peninsula southwest of Reykjavík, spectacular fissure eruptions of this type have occurred again and again in recent times, most recently in January, when the lava reached the foothills of Grindavík.
At that time, several houses were hit by a lava flow, hundreds of animals had to be rescued and towns had to be evacuated.
With more than 30 active volcanic systems, Iceland is the largest and most active volcanic region in Europe. The island nation in the North Atlantic lies on the so-called Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which separates the Eurasian and North American plates. One of the most spectacular eruptions occurred 14 years ago. In 2010, the glacier volcano Eyjafjallajökull massively disrupted air traffic in parts of Europe (read more about this here).
bam/dpa