Iceland | A third volcanic eruption in two months

(Reykjavik) A new volcanic eruption began Thursday morning on the Reykjanes peninsula, in southwest Iceland, the third since December 18, causing jets of lava towards the sky visible from the capital Reykjavik.

Across the Icelandic sky, orange-red lava flows accompanied by a cloud of smoke rise from a fissure, according to television images.

This eruption is taking place about five kilometers north of Grindavik, a spokesperson for Icelandic civil protection, Hjördis Gudmundsdóttir, told AFP. The port town of 4,000 inhabitants was evacuated as a precaution on November 11.

“At 5:30 this morning (12:30 a.m. Eastern), a small earthquake began to intensify northeast of Sýlingarfell. About 30 minutes later, an eruption started in the same area,” said the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO), which had been expecting an imminent eruption in recent days.

“According to initial reports from the Coast Guard surveillance flight, the eruption took place in the same area as the one on December 18. The crack is approximately three kilometers long,” the IMO added.

“The lava jets reach a height of around 50-80 m and the plume rises to a height of around 3 km,” the office continues. The flow of lava, however, seems “slightly less” than at the start of the eruption on December 18.

This is the sixth volcanic eruption in Iceland in almost three years, the previous one having taken place in the early morning of January 14 already near Grindavik.

“Situation under control”

According to Kristín Jónsdóttir, IMO seismologist interviewed by Icelandic public radio (Ruv), the area of ​​the eruption is quite favorable and does not threaten infrastructure.

In addition to the town of Grindavik, authorities are particularly monitoring the Svarstengi geothermal power plant, which provides electricity and water to around 30,000 residents in the region. The eruption takes place some three kilometers from it.

“There are well-placed dikes around the power plant”, but if the eruption lasts a long time and causes a lot of lava to flow, “this could pose a problem”, specifies for AFP M^me Gudmundsdóttir.

Guests of the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, a popular tourist destination, were safely evacuated, its management told Ruv.

“The situation is under control, there is no danger. The airport is safe. People are 100% safe,” reassured the spokesperson for Icelandic civil protection.

Until the March 2021 eruption, the Reykjanes Peninsula, south of the capital Reykjavik, had been spared from eruptions for eight centuries.

There have been five others since, in August 2022 and July 2023, December 18, 2023, January 14 and this Thursday, a sign, for volcanologists, of a resumption of volcanic activity in the region.

The small town of Grindavik was damaged in November by a series of eruption-precursor earthquakes that opened large cracks in the ground and on some buildings. During the eruption of January 14, three houses were burned by lava, something unprecedented in 51 years in the country.

Thirty-three volcanic systems are considered active in this country of fire and ice, the most volcanic region in Europe.