A volcano erupted in southwestern Iceland on Tuesday, just hours after authorities evacuated a nearby community and the Blue Lagoon spa, UNN reports, citing AP.
Details
Flames and smoke billowed into the air as a volcanic fissure opened near the town of Grindavik, where about 40 homes were evacuated, the national broadcaster RUV reported. The community, located on the Reykjanes Peninsula, was largely evacuated a year ago when the volcano "came to life" after 800 years of inactivity.
Webcams showed molten rock erupting towards the community. Sirens wailed in Grindavik, and the nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal resort, one of Iceland's biggest tourist attractions, was also evacuated.
"The fissure is now about 500 meters long and has reached the protective barrier north of Grindavik," the Icelandic Meteorological Office said in a statement. "The fissure continues to grow, and it cannot be ruled out that it may continue to open further south."
The magma flow began erupting around 6:30 a.m. local time and was accompanied by intense earthquakes, similar to previous eruptions, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said.
Addition
Iceland is located above a volcanic hotspot in the North Atlantic. The most destructive recent incident was the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010, which released clouds of ash into the atmosphere and disrupted transatlantic air traffic for several months.