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GRINDAVIK, Iceland (AP) — A volcano erupted Thursday in southwestern Iceland for the third time since Decembersending jets of lava into the sky and beginning the evacuation of the Blue Lagoon Spa, one of the island nation’s biggest tourist attractions.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said the eruption began at about 0600 GMT (1 a.m. EST) along a fissure three kilometers (about two miles) northeast of Mount Silingarfell. Several communities on the Reykjanes peninsula were cut off from heat and hot water after a river of lava engulfed a supply pipeline.
People look at a volcanic eruption north of Grindavik, Iceland, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. Iceland’s weather office says a volcano is erupting in the southwestern part of the country, just north of a nearby settlement. The eruption of Silingarfell volcano began at 6 a.m. local time on Thursday, shortly after an intense burst of seismic activity. (AP Photo/Marco Di Marco)
The eruption site is about 4 kilometers (2½ mi) northeast of Grindavik, A coastal town of 3,800 people which was already evacuated a previous explosion On 18 December. The weather office said there was no immediate threat to the city on Thursday.
Civil protection officials said it was unlikely anyone would be in Grindavik at the time of the new explosion. “They were not going to do it, and we don’t know of anyone,” Vidir Rennisson, head of Iceland’s civil defence, told national broadcaster RÚV.
The civil protection agency said the lava had reached a pipeline that supplies cities on the Reykjanes peninsula with hot water from the Svartsengi geothermal power plant – which is used to heat homes. Authorities urged residents to minimize use of hot water and electricity, as workers rushed to lay underground water pipes as backup.
The nearby Blue Lagoon thermal spa, built using excess water from the power plant, was closed when the eruption began and all guests were evacuated, RUV said. A stream of steaming lava later spread across the road leading out of the spa.
Airport operator Isavia said no flight disruptions were reported at Iceland’s main airport, Keflavík, but hot water supplies had been cut off.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office warned of a possible eruption earlier this week after monitoring a build-up of magma, or semi-molten rock, beneath the ground for the past three weeks. Hundreds of small earthquakes have been measured in the region since Friday, which was hit by a burst of intense seismic activity about 30 minutes before the latest eruption began.
Dramatic video from the Icelandic Coast Guard shows fountains of lava rising more than 50 meters (165 feet) into the dark sky. A plume of steam rose approximately 3 kilometers (1½ mi) above the volcano.
Iceland, which sits above a Volcanic hot spots in the North AtlanticOn average, one eruption occurs every four to five years. The most devastating event in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed huge clouds of ash into the atmosphere and led to widespread airspace closures in Europe.
Dave McGarvie, a volcanologist who has worked extensively in Iceland, said it was highly unlikely that a “mild, fast” eruption would disrupt aviation because such volcanoes produce only small amounts of ash.
Grindavik, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of Iceland’s capital Reykjavik, was evacuated in November after the Svartsengi volcanic system awakened after nearly 800 years with a series of earthquakes that shook the earth north of the city. Opened big cracks in.
the volcano finally erupted On December 18, lava flowed away from Grindavik. A second eruption that began on January 14 sent lava toward the city. Defensive walls strengthened since the first eruption stopped some of the flow, but many buildings were consumed by lava, and magma movement caused the city’s land to sink by 1½ meters (4½ ft).
No deaths have been confirmed, but one worker is missing after falling into an open crack in the volcano.
Both previous eruptions lasted only a few days, but they indicate that Iceland’s President Gudni Th. Jóhannsson called the Reykjanes Peninsula, one of the most densely populated parts of Iceland, “a difficult period of upheaval.”
It’s unclear whether Grindavik residents will ever be able to return permanently, McGarvie said.
He said, “I think at this point there’s a resignation, a harsh resignation, that, for the foreseeable future, the city is basically not livable.”
He said that after centuries of peace, “people thought the area was quite safe.”
He added, “It’s a bit of a shock that it’s resurfaced.” He added, “The evidence we have gathered very recently is that sporadic eruptions in this particular peninsula may continue for decades, if not centuries.”
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Danica Kirka and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this story.
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