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Lava eruption from long-dormant Icelandic volcano

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GRINDAVIK: Glowing red lava spewed on Saturday from a volcano that has erupted near Iceland’s capital Reykjavik after being dormant for more than 900 years.


But officials said the eruption was small and did not appear to represent a danger to people.


Dramatic images filmed by a coast guard helicopter showed streams of red lava bubbling and flowing out of a fissure in a valley in Geldingadalur, close to Mount Fagradalsfjall on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwestern Iceland.


As the lava continued to flow on Saturday, clouds of blue gas were also swirling from the site, located just 40 kilometres from the capital and near the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, a popular tourist destination.


The eruption occurred on Friday around 2045 GMT, lighting up the night sky with a crimson glow, after hundreds of small earthquakes shook the area. While Iceland’s Keflavik International Airport and the small fishing port of Grindavik are just a few kilometres away, the zone is uninhabited and the eruption did not appear to present any danger. From Grindavik, steam could be seen rising from the area in between rain showers, a reporter said.


“The eruption is considered small,” the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO), which monitors seismic activity, said in a statement on Saturday.


It said the “eruption fissure” is estimated to be about 500-1,000 metres long. The lava, it added, is estimated to be less than one square kilometre in size. “There is little eruption activity in the area,” the IMO said.


The eruption took place in the Krysuvik volcanic system, which does not have a central volcano, about five kilometres inland from the southern coast.


There were no reports of ash fall, although tephra — solidified magma rock fragments — and gas emissions were to be expected. The public has been advised to stay away from the scene and access to the area has been blocked off.


Police ordered residents living east of the volcano to close their windows and stay indoors due to the risk of possible gas pollution carried by the wind. — AFP


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