An eruption only occurred on the Reykjanes Peninsula on December 18. Now a volcano has erupted again. In the coastal town of Grindavík, several houses were set on fire by lava.
A volcano has erupted in Iceland for the second time in four weeks. In the fifth eruption in the southwestern North Atlantic island since 2021, lava bubbling up from the land reached the evacuated coastal town of Grindavík for the first time, where it set fire to several homes. This was demonstrated by aerial photos from the Icelandic radio station RÚV.
The city of 4,000 inhabitants had already been evacuated on Sunday night, when the new eruption was announced on the Reykjanes Peninsula, southwest of Reykjavik, with another series of earthquakes. The eruption finally began at 7:57 am (local time) in the morning, when the first lava bubbled up from an elongated fissure in the earth, a few hundred meters north of Grindavík.
A few hours later, a veritable sea of lava formed in the area, glowing red at dawn. After a helicopter flyover of RÚV in the morning, volcano expert Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson estimated that the crack in the earth had grown to a good kilometer.
“Lava flows towards the city”
This lava was already ominously close to Grindavík. “Lava is now flowing towards the city,” warned Icelandic meteorological authority Vedurstofa. Authorities appealed to people not to think about walking into the lava. At the edge of the glowing lava, working machines that had been used to build systems to protect the coastal city from the lava were removed.
Then, at noon, the earth opened up elsewhere – directly on the northern outskirts of Grindavík. From there, bright red lava flowed down the valley before hitting at least two houses, which then burst into flames. As the site was evacuated, there was no danger to human life – but there was danger to the belongings of affected residents.
Earthquake in December
Grindavík is located about 40 kilometers southwest of Reykjavik. The site had already been affected by the last eruption, in mid-December – although not by lava, but by several earthquakes that heralded the eruption. The earthquakes caused deep cracks in roads and other damage. A few days ago, according to Icelandic media reports, a worker had fallen into one of these crevices – the search for him was stopped without him being found.
Also this time, the meteorological authority recorded an intense series of earthquakes, with more than 200 tremors before the eruption. The agency warned that magma was moving below the Earth's surface and the likelihood of an eruption was high.
The last time an eruption occurred in the area was late in the evening of December 18, when lava initially bubbled up from a fissure in the earth several kilometers long. However, the eruption significantly decreased in intensity within a few days. Before Christmas, liquid lava was no longer visible on the Earth's surface. The residents of Grindavík were eventually able to spend their holidays within their own four walls – but with the constant uncertainty that the land beneath them had not stood still. (APA/dpa)