The volcano begins to break out in the southwest of Iceland for hours after a neighboring town and a spa

London (AP) – A volcano began to break out Tuesday in southwest Iceland, just hours after the authorities evacuated a neighboring community and a geothermal spa, one of the largest tourist attractions in Iceland.

WATCH: The Icelandic volcano breaks out for the 7th time in a year

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 nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa was also evacuated.

“The total duration of the eruptive crack is now approximately 1,200 meters (3,937 feet) and continues to extend south,” said Iceland’s Met of Iceland in a statement, adding that he had received a report that a hot water pipeline had broken in the northern part of Grindavík.

“This confirms that significant defect movements have occurred in the city,” said the Met Office.

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.