A volcano in Iceland erupted Saturday night for the fourth time in three months, sending orange jets of lava into the evening sky.
Iceland’s Meteorological Office stated the eruption opened a fissure within the earth about 3 kilometers (2 miles) lengthy between Stóra-Skógfell and Hagafell mountains on the Reykjanes Peninsula.
The Met Office had warned for weeks that magma — semi-molten rock — was accumulating underneath the bottom, making an eruption probably.
Hundreds of individuals have been evacuated from the Blue Lagoon thermal spa, one in every of Iceland’s high vacationer points of interest, when the eruption started, nationwide broadcaster RUV stated.
No flight disruptions have been reported at close by Keflavik, Iceland’s most important airport.
The eruption website is just a few kilometers (miles) northeast of Grindavik, a coastal city of three,800 folks about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik.
Spectators watch plumes of smoke from volcanic exercise between Hagafell and Stóri-Skógfell, Iceland, on Saturday, March 16, 2024.
(AP Photo/Marco di Marco)
Plumes of smoke rise from volcanic exercise between Hagafell and Stóri-Skógfell, Iceland, on Saturday, March 16, 2024.
(AP Photo/Marco di Marco)
This picture from video offered by Iceland Civil Defense exhibits lava erupting from a volcano between Hagafell and Stóri-Skógfell, Iceland, on on Saturday, March 16, 2024.
(Iceland Civil Defense through AP)
Grindavik was evacuated in November when the Svartsengi volcanic system woke up after virtually 800 years with a sequence of earthquakes that opened giant cracks within the floor north of the city.
The volcano finally erupted on Dec. 18, sending lava flowing away from Grindavik. A second eruption that started on Jan. 14 despatched lava towards the city. Defensive partitions that had been bolstered after the primary eruption stopped among the stream, however a number of buildings have been consumed by the lava.
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Both eruptions lasted solely a matter of days. A third eruption started Feb. 8 and petered out inside hours.
RUV quoted geophysicist Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson as saying that the most recent eruption is probably the most highly effective thus far.
An emergency car is stationed on a street resulting in volcanic exercise between Hagafell and Stóri-Skógfell, Iceland, on Saturday, March 16, 2024.
(AP Photo/Marco di Marco)
Plumes of smoke rise from volcanic exercise between Hagafell and Stóri-Skógfell, Iceland, on Saturday, March 16, 2024.
(AP Photo/Marco di Marco)
Iceland, which sits above a volcanic scorching spot within the North Atlantic, sees common eruptions and is extremely skilled at coping with them. The most disruptive in current occasions was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed big clouds of ash into the ambiance and led to widespread airspace closures over Europe.
No confirmed deaths have been reported from any of the current eruptions, however a workman was declared lacking after falling right into a fissure opened by the volcano.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
