It was around 9pm this evening that a series of earthquakes struck the Reykjanes peninsula in the south-west of Iceland. Around an hour later, the lava came to the surface. The outbreak is the fourth in three years, writes the newspaper Morgunbladid. A state of emergency has been declared. According to the Icelandic Meteorological Office, the eruption is “most likely” limited to an area between Sylingarfell and Hagafell, just north of Grindavik. It was in this area that it was feared that an eruption would occur in November. The strongest earthquake in the swarm on Monday evening must have had a magnitude of 4.2, according to preliminary measurements. This is written by Icelandic RÚV. The eruption colors the sky red. Photo: Arni Theodorsson / RÚV RÚV further writes that a helicopter from the Icelandic Coast Guard is in the air to confirm the exact location and size of the eruption. On board the helicopter are three researchers and a cameraman from RÚV. The pictures taken from the helicopter are spectacular: Picture taken from the Coast Guard’s helicopter. Photo: RÚV / RÚV Evacuated again The outbreak comes barely a month after the Icelandic authorities lowered the level of preparedness, allowing residents to return home for longer periods each day. Morgunbladid writes that the police have now evacuated Grindavik and other nearby areas again. The eruption also comes just one day after the Blue Lagoon reopened after being closed since November 9. Video from a tipster shows that the eruption colors the night sky red. A wall of fire news has spoken to Ingólfur Þór Tómasson. He lives in Keflavik. – I stand outside on the balcony and see a sea of fire. The whole sky glows red. It is quite quiet and lots of smoke. A wall of fire. I think it is approx. 15-20 kilometers as the crow flies from here, north of Grindavik, says Tómasson. He says he first saw a small, bright spot of lava out in the dark. But it quickly became “fierce”. – At first I thought it was a house that was on fire. Since then it has only grown and grown and grown. Much is uncertain. There’s not much they can say, yet. But it is quite at the power station in Svartsengi. Tómasson therefore fears that they will lose water and heat. “Worst imaginable location” According to volcanologist Thorvaldur Þórðarson, at first glance it looks like “the worst place the eruption could have happened” for both Grindavik and Svartsengi. He estimates that the lava columns are around a hundred meters high, but reiterates that this is based on a first glance, according to RÚV. Geophysicist Benedikt Ófeigsson also calls it a “worst case scenario”. Nevertheless, police chief in Suðrnes, Úlfar Lúðvíksson, says that the outbreak does not pose a danger to people, as it is now. Not a “tourist eruption” To RÚV, police chief Víðir Reynisson says that they are working to get an exact location of the eruption, but that lava seems to be sliding in all directions from the fissure, which also appears to be quite large. He further says that it “must be assumed” that lava can flow towards Grindavik and onto the dikes that have been set up to slow down the lava. He further asks people nearby to stay at home. – We are not looking at a tourist outbreak, he says.
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Volcanic eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
