Icelandic Volcano Erupts Following Weeks of Activity, Prompting Town Evacuation.

On Monday night, a volcanic eruption commenced on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula, casting an orange hue across the sky and leading to heightened readiness from the country’s civil defense. The Icelandic Meteorological Office indicated that the eruption took place approximately four kilometers from the town of Grindavik. Grainy webcam footage captured the eruption, revealing a sudden flash of light illuminating the sky at 10:17 p.m. local time. As the eruption unfolded, magma, or partially molten rock, was observed ejecting along the ridge of a hill.

“The magma flow seems to be at least a hundred cubic metres per second, maybe more. So this would be considered a big eruption in this area at least,” Vidir Reynisson, head of Iceland’s Civil Protection and Emergency Management told the Icelandic public broadcaster, RUV.

In November, authorities carried out the evacuation of Grindavik as intense seismic activity in the region caused damage to homes and heightened concerns of an impending eruption.

Iceland is situated above a volcanic hot spot in the North Atlantic, experiencing eruptions approximately every four to five years. One of the most impactful eruptions in recent memory occurred in 2010 when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano released massive ash clouds into the atmosphere, leading to widespread flight disruptions across Europe for several days due to concerns about potential damage to airplane engines caused by the ash.