In Iceland, a volcano has erupted about 30 kilometers southwest of the capital Reykjavik. The eruption began in the afternoon in a depression north of a small mountain called Litli Hrutur, the Icelandic Weather Service said on Monday. From there, smoke will go north-west. This means that the current eruption is only a few kilometers away from the location of the last two eruptions in the past two years.
Low intensity eruption
Footage released on the online networks showed a large plume of smoke rising from the ground and a substantial flow of lava. According to a reporter from the AFP news agency, the smoke could be seen from a road connecting Reykjavik with the international airport. Motorists stopped on the road to take photos.
“There are three fissures where lava is basically pouring out in all directions,” University of Iceland volcanology professor Thorvaldur Thordarson told AFP. It is a low-intensity eruption that has not yet posed a major threat. But if the eruption lasts long enough, it could endanger the infrastructure. The Icelandic authorities advised against visiting the hard-to-reach site of the eruption before assessing the situation.
Thousands of smaller earthquakes have already occurred in the Reykjavik area in the past week. The weather service then warned that these could be the signs of an imminent volcanic eruption.
Most active volcanic region in Europe
Iceland is the largest and most active volcanic region in Europe. Fagradalsfjall, around 40 kilometers from the capital, on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland erupted in 2021 and 2022. The volcano spewed its lava for six months in 2021, and the eruption lasted three weeks in 2022. In both years, the spectacle attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors.
This, in turn, could indicate increased volcanic activity in the region in the coming decades or even centuries. As of March 2021, the previous volcanic activity on Reykjanes was eight centuries ago.
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