Icelandic volcano erupts yet again, nearby town evacuated

Lava spewed Saturday from a brand new volcanic fissure on Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula, the fourth eruption to hit the world since December, authorities mentioned.

A “volcanic eruption has began between stora Skogfell and Hagafell on the Reykjanes Peninsula,” mentioned a press release from the Icelandic Met Workplace. Stay video photographs confirmed glowing lava and billowing smoke.

Iceland’s Division of Civil Safety and Emergency Administration introduced it had despatched a helicopter to slim down the precise location of the brand new fissure.

Minutes earlier than the eruption, the IMO had issued a press release saying that seismic exercise indicated that there was an elevated likelihood of an eruption.

Native media reported that the evacuation of the fishing city of Grindavik had began, residents having acquired textual content messages telling them to go away shortly.

The roughly 4,000 residents of Grindavik had solely been cleared to return to their houses on Feb. 19 after having been evacuated on Nov. 11, 2023.

On that event, tons of of tremors broken buildings and opened up enormous cracks in roads.

The quakes had been adopted by a volcanic fissure on Dec. 18 that spared the village.

However a fissure opened proper in town’s edge in January, sending lava flowing into the streets and decreasing three houses to ashes, adopted by a 3rd eruption close to the village on Feb. 8.

Iceland is dwelling to 33 energetic volcano techniques, the very best quantity in Europe.

It straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a crack within the ocean flooring separating the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.

However till March 2021, the Reykjanes peninsula had not skilled an eruption for eight centuries.

Additional eruptions occurred in August 2022 and in July and December 2023, main volcanologists to say it was in all probability the beginning of a brand new period of seismic exercise within the area.