For the second time in 4 weeks, a volcano has erupted in Iceland, with lava this time reaching a coastal city and setting homes on hearth on Sunday.
In the fifth eruption within the island’s southwest since 2021, lava was spewing from each the volcano and newly opened fissures within the floor, prompting the evacuation of the coastal city of Grindavik.
An aerial picture from Icelandic broadcaster RUV confirmed lava setting properties on hearth within the city the place some 4,000 inhabitants had been instructed to evacuate on Saturday night time after a sequence of earthquakes warned that an eruption was imminent.
“Today is a dark day for Grindavik and for the whole of Iceland. But the sun will rise again,” Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir mentioned at a civil protection press briefing late on Sunday, based on RUV.
“Together we will overcome this shock and everything that may come.”
Civil protection chief Vídir Reynisson mentioned that Sunday’s eruption can be remembered for a very long time to come back and that they had been in all probability just the start of a series of such occasions.
In a night handle to the nation, Iceland’s President Gudni Th. Johannesson referred to as on his fellow residents to face by the residents of Grindavik and help them.
“We Icelanders are doing this together. We will not give up,” he was quoted as saying by RUV.
The volcanic eruption on Reykjanes Peninsula, southwest of Reykjavik, started at 7:57 am native time (7:57 a.m. GMT) on Sunday when the primary lava gushed out of an elongated fissure a number of hundred meters north of Grindavik.
Just a number of hours later, the world was stuffed with a glowing purple sea of lava. Volcano professional Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson instructed RUV after a helicopter flight over the world that the fissure had grown to a size of round a kilometer and was sending lava dangerously near Grindavik.
“Lava is now flowing towards the town,” warned the Icelandic climate authority Vedurstofa, as authorities referred to as on would-be catastrophe vacationers to not contemplate making a visit to see the lava.
Then, round noon, the earth additionally opened up on the northern outskirts of Grindavik. From there, the glowing purple lava inched down the valley earlier than setting a minimum of two homes on hearth.
Johannesson had mentioned earlier on social media platform X, previously Twitter, that human lives weren’t at risk, however that native infrastructure and possessions is likely to be.
Volcanic threats
Grindavik had already been hit by the final volcanic eruption within the space in mid-December – not by the lava, however by a number of earthquakes that introduced the pending eruption.
This time too, the Icelandic meteorological authority recorded an intense sequence of earthquakes earlier than the eruption. The quakes induced deep cracks within the roads and different injury.
Just a few days in the past, a employee fell into one in every of these fissures, based on native media experiences. The seek for him has since been referred to as off and he stays lacking.
This time too, the climate authority recorded an intense sequence of earthquakes with greater than 200 tremors earlier than the eruption. The authority warned that magma was in movement beneath the earth’s floor and that the chance of an eruption was excessive.
The final eruption within the space came about on Dec. 18, when lava initially gushed out of a fissure a number of kilometers lengthy. However, the eruption decreased considerably in depth inside a number of days.
Source: www.dailysabah.com