Grindavik, Iceland.- A volcano erupted in southwestern Iceland on Thursday night for the sixth time since December, spewing lava through a new fissure on the Reykjanes Peninsula.
The eruption began shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday following a series of powerful earthquakes, and within an hour a 4-kilometer (2.4-mile) fissure had appeared in Sundhnúkur’s crater.
Icelandic authorities say the effects of the eruption remain localised, with road closures, but do not pose a threat to the population.
Unlike previous eruptions, the lava is not heading towards the town of Grindavik, Halldór Björnsson, director of meteorology and climate at the Norwegian Meteorological Agency, told Icelandic news website Vísir. Grindavik was almost completely evacuated in December when the volcano became active again after 800 years of calm.
Magnús Tuma Guðmundsson, a geophysicist who flew over the eruption centres on Thursday, told the website that “if it continues like this, Grindavík is not in danger. Of course, we don’t know what will happen in the near future, but it is likely that this has reached its peak and is starting to subside like the other eruptions.”
When news of the eruption broke, hundreds of curious onlookers flocked to nearby viewing points to contemplate the impressive natural phenomenon that has become a key tourist attraction.
“We thought it was the Northern Lights,” said Mahnoor Ali from Maryland, United States. “Honestly, this is the most incredible thing I have ever seen.”
Ameerul Awalludin and Shohei Miyamito, two friends from Malaysia and Japan respectively, were with an Icelandic friend when they heard the news and quickly approached each other.
“We have a volcano, too,” Miyamito said, but “we can’t see lava like this.”
For those living and working on the Reykjanes Peninsula, the eruptions and subsequent evacuation orders will be a source of frustration.
Repeated eruptions near Grindavík, a town of 3,800 people about 50 km (30 miles) southwest of the capital, Reykjavik, have damaged infrastructure and property and forced many residents to relocate to ensure their safety.
The few who had returned were forced to leave again on Thursday night when strong winds blew plumes of toxic gas into the village.
The nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, one of Iceland’s biggest tourist attractions, has also been evacuated, local media reported.
The spa was closed on Friday but staff were preparing to reopen it, Helga Árnadóttir, sales, operations and service manager, told national broadcaster RUV.
Iceland, which sits on a volcanic hotspot in the North Atlantic, has an average of one eruption every four to five years. The most serious in recent years was in 2010, when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano spewed clouds of ash into the atmosphere and disrupted transatlantic air traffic for months.
This eruption is not expected to affect air traffic.
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