Icelandic POLICE declared a state of emergency on Saturday evening as lava spewed from a new volcanic fissure on the Reykjanes peninsula, the fourth eruption to hit the area since December.
“A volcanic eruption has begun between Stora Skogfell and Hagafell on the Reykjanes Peninsula,” said a statement from the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO). Live video images showed glowing lava and smoldering smoke.
Iceland’s Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management announced it had dispatched helicopters to narrow down the exact location of the new fissure. Authorities also said police had declared a state of emergency due to the eruption.
According to IMO, this incident occurred close to the same location as the previous eruption on February 8. Lava was seen flowing south towards a dike built to protect the fishing village of Grindavik, he said.
Lava is also flowing westward, as it did on Feb. 8, and the fissure is estimated to be 2.9 kilometers (1.8 miles) long, the IMO said.
Minutes before the eruption, the agency had issued a statement saying that seismic activity indicated an increased chance of an eruption.
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On Friday, the IMO said magma was collecting underground in the area “which could end in new magma intrusions and possible eruptions”. That could happen “with very little warning,” he said.
Local media reported Iceland’s famous geothermal spa, the Blue Lagoon, had been evacuated as well as Grindavik.
New era
Around 4,000 residents of Grindavik were only allowed to return to their homes on 19 February after being evacuated on 11 November, although only around a hundred people chose to do so.
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On that occasion, hundreds of earthquakes damaged buildings and opened large cracks in the roads.
The earthquakes were followed by a mountain pass on December 18 that saved the village.
However, a new fissure opened just on the outskirts of town, in January, sending lava pouring into the streets and reducing three houses to ash, followed by a third eruption near the village on February 8.
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As of Friday, more than 300 Grindavik residents had submitted requests to sell their homes to the state.
The eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula also raised concerns for the Svartsengi power plant, which provides electricity and water to around 30,000 people on the Reykjanes peninsula.
The power plant was evacuated and has been operated remotely since the first eruption in the region, and embankments have been built to protect it.
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Iceland is home to 33 active volcanic systems, the highest number in Europe.
The country straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a crack in the sea floor that separates the European and North American tectonic plates.
However, until March 2021, the Reykjanes peninsula had not experienced an eruption for eight centuries.
Further eruptions occurred in August 2022 and in July and December 2023, leading volcanologists to say that this may be the start of a new era of seismic activity in the region. (AFP/Z-3)
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