Lava is about 450 meters from the fishing village of Grindavík.
Sakari Nuuttila,
Yrjö Kokkonen
In Iceland, a volcano started erupting in the morning local time on the Reykjanes peninsula, in the southwestern part of the island nation.
The rescue authorities had been able to prepare for the eruption and already yesterday the approximately 4,000 inhabitants of the fishing village of Grindavík had been told to leave the area. Now the authorities have declared a state of emergency in the region. The last residents have been transported away by helicopters.
Lava from the volcano is flowing towards Grindavík, says the Icelandic Broadcasting Company RÚV. A researcher at the Department of Meteorology by Kristín Jónsdóttir according to the lava there is 400–500 meters from the north side of the village. If the direction stays the same, the lava will reach the village in less than a day.
The eruption was preceded by a dense series of small earthquakes that started around three in the morning.
The authorities recently said that they hope that the volcanic eruption will be short again this time, as it happened on December 18. Although the eruption at that time started strong, it started to subside after only hours.
According to an expert who spoke to RÚV, a volcanologist of Thorvaldur Thordarson according to this eruption will be smaller but may last longer.
The tear is a kilometer long
The eruption of the volcano was predicted already in the fall, when Grindavík was first emptied. Grindavík is located about 30 kilometers from the suburbs of the capital Reykjavík.
The tear in the ground is a kilometer long and is expanding rapidly, says RÚV.
A researcher at the Meteorological Institute of Iceland by Benedikt Ófeigsson according to the beginning of the eruption, the rupture expands rapidly. Researchers are now urgently trying to find out where the actual opening is.
In Iceland, a volcano last erupted in the same area at the end of December after several strong earthquakes. Even then, the residents of Grindavík were evacuated, but the village was spared as the lava flowed in a different direction.
The current eruption is already the Fifth volcanic eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula since 2021.
The news is updated.
Sources: Reuters, STT