Icelandic police declared a state of emergency on Saturday as lava spewed from a brand new volcanic fissure on the Reykjanes peninsula, the fourth eruption to hit the realm since December.
A “volcanic eruption has began between Stori-Skogfell and Hagafell on the Reykjanes Peninsula,” mentioned a press release from the Icelandic Meteorological Workplace (IMO). Stay video photos confirmed glowing lava and billowing smoke.
The Division of Civil Safety and Emergency Administration of Iceland introduced that it had despatched a helicopter to restrict the precise location of the brand new fissure. The authorities additionally mentioned that the police had declared a state of emergency due to the eruption.
In response to the IMO, it occurred close to the identical place as a earlier eruption on February 8. Lava appeared to movement south in direction of the dikes constructed to guard the fishing village of Grindavik, he mentioned.
Simply after 22:00 GMT, “the southern lava entrance was solely 200 meters [656 feet] from the obstacles on the jap aspect of Grindavik and is transferring at a velocity of about one km per hour,” he added.
A whole lot of individuals had been evacuated from the Blue Lagoon thermal spa, certainly one of Iceland's prime vacationer points of interest, when the eruption started, nationwide broadcaster RUV mentioned.
No flight disruptions had been reported at close by Keflavik, Iceland's predominant airport.
The positioning of the eruption is a number of kilometers northeast of Grindavik, a coastal city of three,800 individuals about 50 km (30 miles) southwest of the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, which was evacuated earlier than the preliminary eruption in December. A number of residents who had returned residence had been evacuated once more on Saturday.
Grindavik was evacuated in November when the Svartsengi volcanic system wakened after practically 800 years with a collection of earthquakes that opened massive cracks within the floor north of the city.
The volcano finally erupted on December 18, sending lava flowing from Grindavik. A second eruption that started on January 14 despatched lava towards town. The defensive partitions that had been strengthened after the primary eruption stopped a few of the movement, however many buildings had been consumed by the lava.
Each eruptions lasted solely a matter of days. A 3rd eruption started on February 8. It subsided inside hours, however not earlier than a river of lava swallowed a pipeline, slicing off warmth and scorching water to 1000’s of individuals.
RUV quoted geophysicist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson as saying that the newest eruption is essentially the most highly effective but. The IMO mentioned a few of the lava flowed in direction of the defensive obstacles round Grindavik.
Iceland, which sits above a volcanic scorching spot within the North Atlantic, sees eruptions commonly and may be very skilled in coping with them. Essentially the most disruptive in current instances was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed enormous clouds of ash into the ambiance and led to widespread airspace closures in Europe.
No confirmed deaths have been reported from any of the current eruptions, however one employee was reported lacking after falling right into a fissure opened by the volcano.
