OSLO—After weeks of high seismic activity, a volcano erupted late Monday in southwest Iceland, spewing lava and smoke across a vast region and endangering a small settlement, according to the country's Meteorological Office.
Fearing a major eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula, officials evacuated about 4,000 residents of Grindavik last month and shuttered the adjoining Blue Lagoon geothermal resort.
“Warning: Eruption has started north of Grindavik by Hagafell,” the Met Office said on its website, noting that the eruption began only a few kilometers from the town and cracks in the ground stretched toward the village located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south-west of Iceland’s capital city Reykjavik.
Keflavik International Airport, which serves Reykjavik, remained open, but with severe delays for both arrivals and departures.
Images and livestreams of the eruption broadcast by Reuters and others showed molten rock shooting brilliantly from fissures in the earth, its bright yellow and orange colors contrasting sharply with the dark night sky.
“Seismic activity together with measurements from GPS devices indicate that the magma is moving to the southwest and the eruption may continue in the direction of Grindavik,” the Met Office said.
The breach in the earth's surface was around 3.5 kilometers long and had expanded swiftly, according to the report.
According to the Met Office, 100 to 200 cubic meters (3,530 to 7,060 cubic feet) of lava erupted each second, several times higher than in past eruptions in the region.
The outbreak prompted local police to elevate their alert level, and the country's civil defense cautioned the public not to approach the region while emergency workers examined the situation.
Iceland is a seismic and volcanic hotspot due to the movement of the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, which are among the biggest on the globe.
However, eruptions are still difficult to forecast. Grindavik residents were dragged from their houses in the middle of the night in mid-November as the earth shook, roads broke, and buildings suffered structural damage.
Seismologists thought an eruption was impending at the moment, but the geological activity ultimately subsided.
Several eruptions have occurred in unpopulated regions of the Reykjanes peninsula in recent years.
Lava fountains burst from a crack in the earth at the region's Fagradalsfjall volcano system in March 2021, spanning 500 to 750 meters (1,640 to 2,460 feet) long.
The area's volcanic activity persisted for six months that year, attracting thousands of Icelanders and visitors. A three-week eruption occurred in the same location in August 2022, followed by another in July of current year.
