police advise curious people not to approach Grindavik volcanic eruption

A helicopter rescued a careless hiker on Tuesday. The geological phenomenon decreased in intensity on Wednesday.

The volcanic eruption near Grindavik (Iceland) continued to decrease in intensity on Wednesday December 20, two days after its start. But the Icelandic police nevertheless warned of its dangers: they asked volcano enthusiasts to “think four times”, before attempting to approach a lava flow, reports the Guardian.

Police say they had to send a helicopter on Tuesday to rescue a hiker “exhausted” And “cold and shocked, halfway” of a route “particularly difficult” leading towards the site of the eruption. The latter inhaled toxic gases emanating from the ground.

Jets of bright orange lava, surrounded by clouds of red smoke, occurring along a four-kilometer fault southwest of Reykjavik largely lit up the Icelandic sky for 24 hours. These spectacular scenes have become attractions for volcano enthusiasts.

This new volcanic eruption, the fourth in two years, took place three kilometers from a town of 4,000 inhabitants, Grindavik. It has been evacuated since November 11 after the declaration of a state of emergency in the region, following a significant accumulation of magma. Until the March 2021 eruption, the Reykjanes Peninsula, south of the capital Reykjavik, had been spared from eruptions for eight centuries. Since then, there have been three more, in August 2022, July 2023 and Monday evening. The sign, for volcanologists, of a resumption of volcanic activity in the region.