The Icelandic city of Grindavík and the nearby blue tourist attraction were evacuated after the area was struck by another volcanic eruption.
The eruption has been 11th since 2021, when the Reykjanes peninsula, a region southwest of Reykjavík, began its new eruption period.
The Icelandic weather office (IMO) said that a “earthquake swarm” had started around 6:30 am on the line of the crater of Sundhnúkur in a place similar to the previous eruptions, before bursting at 9:45 am local time, just north of the protective barrier near Grindavík.
The orange red crack, expelling lava and smoke, quickly spread south and at 10 a.m., it had already reached the defense walls north of Grindavík. Warning sirens have left the city. At 10:30 a.m. local time, it was estimated 700 meters long.
Dramatic video sequences have shown that the magma spitting on the Grindavík side of the defense barrier. “The crack continues to grow, and it cannot be excluded that it could continue to open further south,” said the OMI.
The city of fishermen, about an hour’s drive from the capital, has been largely uninhabited since November 10, 2023, when an eruption led to the city to open it with cracks reaching a depth of 20 meters. Although some of the city’s 3,800 residents and some of its companies have returned, most of them dispersed in other parts of the country after the state bought most of its buildings because they were uninhabitable.
Regional police said they had finished the evacuation of Grindavík, with the exception of a small number of residents who refused to leave. Blue Lagoon, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland, said that it had managed to evacuate the thermal spa.
CH SUPT RUNólfur þórhallsson, Director of Civil Protection of Iceland, urged those who had chosen not to leave the city to evacuate, affirming that the eruption could be much greater than the recent because the magma tunnel is longer and that many magma have accumulated.
The Blue Lagoon said that it had been temporarily closed due to the volcanic eruption and that it would provide more information as it has become available.
Earlier in the day, the OMI said that the signals he picked up was stronger than those recently on the Crater line of Sundhnúkur, indicating that “a considerable quantity of magma is currently in motion”.
He added: “Emergency speakers in Grindavík reported that earthquakes can be felt in the city, and signs of deformation are also visible, which suggests that defect movements could occur in the city itself.”
The Icelandic tourism council said that there was “no threat to the population” and that thefts operated as usual at Keflavík airport.
Snorri Valsson, spokesperson for the tourism council, said: “The area has been closed and is completely closed until further notice. Gas pollution could form in isolated areas around the eruption depending on the direction of the wind and is closely monitored. ”
Valsson added: “The eruption is still in development and we will publish more information, once gathered.”
Although there was an initial effect on tourist figures after the November 2023 eruption – that the tourism council partially blame international reports – since then, the figures have increased slightly.
The number of foreign nationals from Keflavík airport increased by 2% to 2,261,391 in 2023-24 compared to the same previous period, according to statistics from Iceland. The 383,963 stays at the night hotel recorded in November 2024 were also up in relation to the number of November 2023.
