REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Iceland’s president says the country is battling a “great force of nature” after molten lava from a volcano in the island’s southwest consumed several homes in the evacuated town of Grindavik.
Scientists said on Monday that the eruption appeared to be subsiding, but it was too early to declare the danger over.
President Gudni Th. Johannesson said in a televised address late Sunday that “a period of frightening upheaval has begun on the Reykjanes peninsula” where a long-dormant volcanic system has risen.
A volcano on the peninsula erupted for the second time in less than a month on Sunday, with orange lava bursting through two fissures near the fishing town of Grindavik.
Authorities had ordered residents to evacuate hours earlier as a cluster of small earthquakes indicated an impending eruption.
Lava from the volcano consumed many houses in Iceland. via REUTERS
The nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa – one of Iceland’s biggest tourist attractions – was also closed and said it would remain closed until at least Tuesday.
Grindavik, a town of 3,800 people about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of the capital, Reykjavik, was previously evacuated in November when the Svartsengi volcanic system awoke after nearly 800 years with a series of earthquakes that opened huge cracks in the earth. between the city and Sýlingarfell, a small mountain to the north.
The volcano finally erupted on December 18, sending lava flowing from Grindavik. Residents are allowed to return to their homes on Dec 22.
Scientists say that the eruption is subsiding now. AFP via Getty Images
Since then, emergency workers have built defensive walls that have stopped many lava flows from new eruptions outside the city.
No one was killed in the eruption, but one worker is missing after reportedly falling into a fissure opened by the volcano.
“We don’t know yet how this eruption will happen, but we still have to take the actions that are in our power,” the president said. “We will continue our responsibility and we will continue to stand together.
The volcano erupted on December 22. AP “We continue to hope for the best possible outcome, in the face of this great force of nature,” the president said. @bsteinbekk via REUTERS
“We continue to hope for the best possible outcome, in the face of this extraordinary force of nature,” he added.
Iceland, which sits on a volcanic hotspot in the North Atlantic, averages one eruption every four to five years.
The most disruptive in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed a cloud of ash into the atmosphere and disrupted trans-Atlantic air travel for months.
The latest eruption is not expected to release large amounts of ash into the air. Operations at Keflavík Airport are continuing as usual, said Gudjon Helgason, a spokesman for airport operator Isavia.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
