A new volcanic eruption began on Iceland’s southwest Reykjanes Peninsula on Wednesday, the country’s meteorological office said, shortly after authorities evacuated the nearby town of Grindavik.
“An eruption has started near Sundhnuksgigar, north of Grindavik,” the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said in a statement, almost three weeks after the end of a previous eruption which had lasted since March 16.
“The eruption cloud reached an altitude of approximately 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) at the start of the eruption” and the length of the fissure was estimated at more than a kilometer, the statement added.
A large cloud of white smoke could be seen rising against the blue sky, with orange lava gushing from a crack in the ground.
Volcanologist Benedikt Ofeigsson told Icelandic public broadcaster RUV that the fissure was growing and measuring more than 2.5 kilometers long, an hour after the eruption began.
The nearby geothermal spa Blue Lagoon, Iceland’s biggest tourist attraction known for its turquoise waters, said it had also evacuated its facilities on Wednesday.
The eruption is not expected to disrupt air traffic, however, as Keflavik International Airport is “open and operating as usual,” airport operator Isavia said on its website.
This is the fifth eruption to occur on the peninsula since December. Eruptions then followed in January, February and March, with the March 16 eruption declared over by May 9.
– ‘400 earthquakes’ –
The IMO had reported “intense seismic activity” before Wednesday’s eruption, with “around 400 earthquakes” measured over the past seven days near the Sundhnuksgigar crater row.
In addition, around 20 million cubic meters of magma have accumulated in the magma chamber below Svartsengi, where there is a power plant that provides electricity and water to around 30,000 people on the peninsula.
The Svartsengi power plant has been evacuated and has been largely operated remotely since the first eruption in the area in December, and barriers have been built to protect it.
Most of the 4,000 residents of the neighboring town of Grindavik were permanently evacuated in November, before the December eruption.
Lava poured into the streets of Grindavik during the January eruption, engulfing three houses.
But some die-hard residents had returned to live in neighborhoods less threatened by lava flows.
Until March 2021, the Reykjanes Peninsula had not experienced an eruption for eight centuries.
Further eruptions occurred in August 2022 and July and December 2023, leading volcanologists to believe that the start of a new era of seismic activity in the region had begun.
The weather bureau said coastguard helicopters had been sent to determine the exact location and size of Wednesday’s eruption.
Iceland is home to 33 active volcanic systems, the highest number in Europe.
It straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a crack in the ocean floor separating the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.
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