The volcano begins to break out in the southwest of Iceland after the neighboring city and the spa are evacuated

London (AP) – A volcano began to break out Tuesday in southwest Iceland, just hours after the authorities evacuated a neighboring community and the Blue Lagoon Spa.

The flames and the smoke turned into the air while the volcanic crack opened near the city of Grindavik, where around forty houses were evacuated, reported the national RAV diffuser. The community, located on the Reykjanes peninsula, was widely evacuated a year ago when the volcano came to life after being dormant for 800 years.

Webcams have shown that melted rocks spitting towards the community. The sirens resounded to Grindavik while the proximity Geothermal spa of the blue lagoon – One of the largest tourist attractions in Iceland – has also been evacuated.

“The crack now lasts around 500 meters (yards) long and has reached the protective barrier north of Grindavík,” said Iceland’s Met of Iceland. “The crack continues to grow, and it cannot be excluded that it could continue to open further south.” “”

The flow of magma started around 6:30 a.m., local time (0630 GMT) accompanied by an intense earthquake swarm similar to previous eruptions, said the Icelandic Met office.

Iceland is above a Volcanic hot spot in the North Atlantic. The most disruptive incident in recent times has been the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spitted ash clouds in the atmosphere and disrupted transatlantic air trips for months.