Fiery scenes as volcano erupts in Iceland following ‘earthquake swarm’
A volcano has erupted in Iceland, sending orange flames and smoke in the air and triggering the evacuation of a popular tourist attraction.
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A town and popular tourist attraction has been evacuated in Iceland after a volcano erupted near the nation’s capital, sending orange flames and smoke in the air.
The eruption – the eighth to hit the region since the end of 2023 – broke out on the Sundhnúkur Crater Row, north of the fishing village Grindavik and famous Blue Lagoon spa and south of the capital city of Reykjavik, before 9.45am on Tuesday, local time.
It occurred after a number of earthquakes hit the area.
Wild footage shows lava spewing out of a long fissure in the ground.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said initial reports indicated that the “eruptive fissure” extended about 700 metres, reporting hours later that it extended about 1200 metres.
Around 11am, local time, the agency said that a “new eruptive fissure has opened a few hundred meters inside the protective barriers north of Grindavik – between the barriers and the town itself”.
The IMO warned earlier that an eruption could be imminent after “an earthquake swarm” began in the early morning.
“The swarm is located between Sýlingarfell and Stóra-Skógfell, in a similar are as seen prior to previous eruptions,” it wrote.
Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, RUV, reported authorities had evacuated Grindavik, though eight residents had decided to remain.
“We reiterate our instructions — it was a request for people to leave the danger zone, but as has been stated, people have been staying in seven or eight houses there, and those individuals have decided to remain in the town,” the region’s police commissioner, Ulfar Ludviksson, told the broadcaster.
He added that they did not intend to force people to leave and that those who had opted to remain were well-acquainted with the escape routes.
Rikke Pedersen from the Nordic Volcanological Centre told the BBC the town was “in danger of having lava flows entering the inhabited area”.
Iceland’s famed Blue Lagoon spa announced that it had been closed for the day, adding that the situation would be reassessed at the end of the day.
The latest in a string of eruptions
The last eruption hit the area in November – the seventh eruption in a year.
Most of Grindavik’s 4000 residents were evacuated in late 2023, shortly before the first volcanic eruption in the area.
Since then, almost all the houses have been sold to the state, and most of the residents have departed.
Mr Ludviksson had reported that recently, around 40 houses in Grindavik were occupied by residents, according to RUV.
Volcanoes on the peninsula had not erupted for eight centuries until March 2021, when a period of heightened seismic activity began.
Volcanologists warned that volcanic activity in the region had entered a new era.
Iceland is home to 33 active volcanic systems, more than any other European country.
It is located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a fault in the ocean floor that separates the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates and causes earthquakes and eruptions.
Originally published as Fiery scenes as volcano erupts in Iceland following ‘earthquake swarm’
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