Dec 19, 2023 at 12:14 AM Update: 3 hours ago
A volcano in southwestern Iceland finally erupted on Monday. Measures were taken in the country for weeks due to intense seismological activity.
Footage from local news channel RUV shows lava spewing from cracks in the ground. Coast Guard helicopters will confirm the exact location and size of the eruption. There are no reports of casualties.
Icelandic police have raised the alert level due to the outbreak. Authorities are warning citizens not to go to the area. To do this, they must first assess the situation.
Fearing the volcanic eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula, authorities had evacuated the nearly four thousand residents of the fishing village of Grindavík and closed the nearby Blue Lagoon spa.
The peninsula has seen several outbreaks in unpopulated areas in recent years, but this time the outbreak would pose a major risk to the city, authorities said.
The eruption did not occur for a long time, which led several experts to believe that the chance of an eruption had decreased. After several earthquakes, sometimes as many as eight hundred in a day, the Icelandic weather institute warned of the impending eruption. In November the government declared a state of emergency.
Reykjanes is a volcanic and seismic hotspot southwest of the capital Reykjavik. In March 2021, lava fountains erupted spectacularly from a 500 to 750 meter long fissure in the ground in the Fagradalsfjall volcanic system.
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Drone images show devastation after hundreds of earthquakes in Iceland
Image: ANP/EPA
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IcelandAbroad
2023-12-18 23:14:00
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