After weeks of seismic activity, a volcanic eruption was observed this Monday, December 18, 2023, on the Reykjanes peninsula, southwest Iceland, according to images captured by the local press.
This Monday, December 18, 2023, a volcanic eruption began in southwest Iceland. According to the local press, in particular the mbl.is media, this eruption occurred on the Reykjanes Peninsula, where significant seismic activity has been recorded in recent weeks.
“An exuberant eruption began a few kilometers northeast of Grindavík,” the Icelandic Meteorological Institute (IMO) said in a press release shortly after 10:30 p.m. (11:30 p.m. Paris time), noting that the aviation color code was in place blushed.
Hundreds of earthquakes since November
However, “there are currently no disruptions to arrivals or departures at Keflavik Airport,” Icelandic airport operator ISAVIA said on its website.
The Reykjanes Peninsula, south of the capital Reykjavik, had been spared from eruptions for eight centuries, until March 2021. Since then, there have been two more eruptions, in August 2022 and July 2023, a sign for volcanologists of a resurgence in volcanic activity in the region.
In this land of fire and ice, the most volcanic region in Europe, 32 volcanic systems are considered active.
On November 11, residents of Grindavik, a picturesque village of 4,000 people, were evacuated as a precaution after hundreds of earthquakes caused by the movement of magma beneath the Earth's crust, the precursor to a volcanic eruption. Since then, they have only been allowed to visit their homes at certain times a day.