Volcano in Iceland is erupting again

The volcano, which erupted on the Icelandic Reykjanes peninsula in December, is active again. This time the port city of Grindavik is also affected.

Grindavik – New earthquake activity had been causing unrest for days, now it's that time again: the fissure volcano in the north of Iceland has erupted again. The Icelandic newspaper Visor According to reports, earthquake activity in the Súndhnúk crater series north of the city increased around 3 a.m. and over a hundred earthquakes were recorded in the following hour. The city has now been completely evacuated. Apparently the lava has already broken through a protective dam.

Camera broadcasts live volcanic eruption north of Icelandic city

The new eruption began at 7:59 a.m. on Sunday morning, January 14, near the volcanic fissure that formed on December 18. However, this time the volcanic outflows from the fissure have shifted south towards Grindavik in the last few hours, it is said.

A Coast Guard helicopter took off to assess the situation. Civil defense has raised the warning level to emergency level. “As soon as further information about the location becomes available, we will issue a new notification,” reports the Civil Defense Ministry.

Lava crosses earth walls that are supposed to protect the city

Kristin Jonsdottir, natural hazards expert at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, said in an interview Visorthat the eruption occurred south of the volcanic hills of Hagafell, north of the earthworks of Grindavik. In recent weeks, such barriers have been erected to protect the city from lava flows. However, it appears that the eruption, which formed about an hour ago, crossed a dike a short distance north of Grindavík, reports mbl.is. A video shows a tongue of lava moving towards parked excavators.

Grindavik had already been evacuated after the quake wave in November last year. When the situation calmed down north of the city after the first outbreak in December, residents were allowed to return at the beginning of the year. Last week, during cleanup work in the city, a construction worker disappeared into a crack that had spontaneously opened.