A volcano in southwest Iceland has erupted, spewing lava and smoke throughout a large space weeks after almost 4,000 residents of a close-by city have been evacuated amid intense seismic exercise.
The eruption began at about 10:17pm (22:17 GMT) on Monday on Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula, turning the sky orange and prompting the nation’s civil defence to be on excessive alert. It appeared to have taken place about 4km (2.4 miles) from the city of Grindavik, the Icelandic Meteorological Office mentioned.
Livestreamed footage of the eruption confirmed glowing orange jets of lava spewing from a gash within the floor, surrounded by billowing clouds of purple smoke.
Iceland has been on excessive alert for a possible eruption after 1000’s of small earthquakes rattled the area about 40km (25 miles) south of the capital, Reykjavik, prompting the evacuation in November of the fishing city of Grindavik and the closure of the close by Blue Lagoon geothermal spa.
Iceland sits above a volcanic scorching spot within the North Atlantic and averages an eruption each 4 to 5 years. The most disruptive in latest occasions was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed enormous clouds of ash into the environment and grounded flights throughout Europe for days due to fears that the ash may injury aeroplane engines.
Scientists say a brand new eruption would probably produce lava however not an ash cloud. A coast guard helicopter will try to verify the precise location – and measurement – of the eruption, and also will measure gasoline emissions.
Grindavik sits on the Reykjanes peninsula and is near Keflavik airport, Iceland’s foremost facility for worldwide flights.
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