A volcano has erupted in Iceland, the country’s meteorological office said late Monday local time — weeks after earthquakes rumbled the southwestern coast.
“An eruption has started north of GrindavÃk,” the Icelandic Met Office said in an alert on its website. “It can be seen on webcams and seems to be located close to Hagafell, about 3 km [about 1.8 miles] north of GrindavÃk.”
The night sky is illuminated caused by the eruption of a volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula of south-west Iceland seen from the capital city of Reykjavik, Dec. 18, 2023.
Brynjar Gunnarsson/AP
An “earthquake swarm” started around 9 p.m. local time and the eruption began at 10:17 p.m., the office said.
Flowing lava is seen during an eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula 3km north of Grindavik, western Iceland on Dec. 18, 2023.
Icelandic Meteorological Office
Iceland’s Meteorological Office confirmed early Tuesday morning local time that the eruption was located on “the dyke intrusion that formed in November.” The eruption fissure, as the Met Office called it, began expanding southward, with the southern end of it near Sundhnúkur.
It estimated the lava discharge from the fissure to be “hundreds of cubic metres per second,” adding that the biggest lava fountains were on the northern end. The lava was spreading laterally, the office said.
Seismic activity had slowed after midnight on Dec. 19, according to the office.
Local weather officials had warned in November there was a “significant likelihood” of a volcanic eruption. More than 20,000 quakes have shaken the area since late October, officials have said.
Flowing lava is seen during at a fissure on the Reykjanes peninsula 3km north of Grindavik, western Iceland on Dec. 18, 2023.
Kristinn Magnusson/AFP via Getty Images
At the time, officials declared a state of emergency near the Mount Fagradalsfjall volcano on the sparsely populated Reykjanes Peninsula.
Volcano eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula, about 3 km north of Grindavik, Iceland, following an earthquake on Dec. 18, 2023.
Icelandic Meteorological Office
About 3,700 residents of GrindavÃk, a nearby fishing town, began evacuating on Nov. 10, according to the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management. The evacuation was successful, Bjarni Benediktsson, the minister of foreign affairs, said at the time.
ABC News’ Kevin Shalvey contributed to this report.
Source: abc news
