After 2021 and 2022, in 2023, glowing lava will continue to gush on a peninsula southwest of Reykjavik. The Icelanders now know the natural spectacle quite well – and remain relaxed.
Reykjavik – Iceland has witnessed a volcanic eruption for the third year in a row, with spectacular images. The eruption began late Monday afternoon on the same peninsula southwest of the capital Reykjavik, where bubbling and spattering lava had made its way to the surface for the past two years. It is unclear how long the renewed natural spectacle can be seen this time. The Icelandic government said that disruption to air traffic is not to be feared.
The eruption began around 4:40 p.m. just northwest of Mount Litli-Hrútur on the sparsely populated Reykjanes Peninsula, the Icelandic Meteorological Agency Vedurstofa said. In the meantime, a 900-meter-long chasm has opened up, and the lava is flowing much faster than in the previous eruptions in the area.
The weather agency warns
The eruption doesn’t look like what many people imagine a classic volcanic eruption to be: instead of a massive lava flow shooting up into the air from a cone-shaped volcano, the lava spurted out of an elongated fissure in the earth. This type of eruption is also known as a fissure eruption. It usually does not lead to large explosions or huge columns of ash.
However, live footage from the area showed thick plumes of smoke over the glowing lava. The weather agency warned of strong and dangerous gas formation that could extend to the capital region. Travelers should avoid the volcanic area until experts assess local conditions. The two eruptions in 2021 and 2022 had attracted many volcanologists, but also hikers and tourists.
Earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2
The volcanic area is about 40 kilometers from Reykjavik on the southwestern tip of the island, not far from the capital’s airport. The last volcanic eruptions in the area were in August 2022 and before that in March 2021, which were announced by numerous earthquakes. This time too, experts were expecting a new outbreak due to thousands of earthquakes in the region. The most violent of the current earthquake swarm with a magnitude of 5.2 was late on Sunday evening.
While Reykjavik is the main metropolitan area of the North Atlantic island with its almost 390,000 inhabitants, relatively few people live on the Reykjanes Peninsula. The Icelandic government said the risk to residential areas and vital infrastructure is considered low. The international flight corridors also remained open.
Things looked very different in spring 2010: a large volcanic eruption catapulted Iceland suddenly onto the front pages of the international media. The eruption of the difficult-to-pronounce volcanic glacier Eyjafjallajökull plunged international air traffic into chaos for days. dpa
#Iceland #experiences #volcanic #eruption #years