A volcano erupted early Sunday morning in southwest Iceland, forcing residents of a nearby fishing town to evacuate for the second time in a month.
Residents of Grindavik, a town 25 miles southwest of the capital Reykjavik, were evacuated overnight ahead of the seismic activity and no one was in danger when molten rock began to erupt from the ground, authorities said.
“No lives are in danger, although infrastructure may be threatened,” Icelandic President Gudni Johannesson wrote on X.
Footage shared online shows large chunks of bright orange semi-molten rock spewing from cracks in the ground.
The eruption began before 8 a.m. north of Grindavik, a town known for its Blue Lagoon, a popular tourist destination.
Residents of Grindavik were evacuated from their homes in November and forced to stay away for six weeks following a series of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Aerial footage from the Icelandic Coast Guard shows the distance of the lava flow to the town of Grindavík. Steps are being taken to defend the infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/fM0JEYetNA
— President of Iceland (@PresidentISL) January 14, 2024
The nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, a popular tourist attraction named one of National Geographic’s 25 wonders of the world, was also temporarily closed.
In response, authorities built barriers around the volcano in hopes of preventing lava from reaching communities, although the latest eruption has breached defense structures.
“According to the first images from Coast Guard surveillance flights, cracks have opened on both sides of the defenses that have begun to be built north of Grindavík,” the IMO’s Icelandic Meteorological Office said.
The lava flowing toward the city was within 1,500 feet, the IMO said.
It was the second volcanic eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland in less than a month and the fifth outbreak since 2021.
Iceland, located on a volcanic hotbed, experiences an eruption every four to five years on average.
In the middle of the world, Indonesia’s Mount Marapi erupted again on Sunday, forcing at least 100 residents to evacuate as smoke and ash shot 4,265 feet into the air before raining ash.
Marapi, known for its sudden and unpredictable eruptions, had its threat level raised from Level 2 to Level 3, the second highest, on Wednesday.
Its eruption in early December shot a thick column of ash more than 9,800 feet high that killed 24 climbers and injured several others caught in the weekend’s sudden eruption.
No casualties were reported on Sunday.
With Postal wire.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
