Lightning in the early morning sky near Amarillo

AFP

Lava spews again following volcanic eruption in Iceland

A new volcano erupted on Wednesday on Iceland's southwest Reykjanes Peninsula, spewing fountains of scorching lava into the air shortly after authorities evacuated the nearby town of Grindavik. A large cloud of white smoke could be seen rising over the blue. sky, with fountains of orange lava bubbling from a fissure in the ground near Sundhnukagigar, north of Grindavik. The eruption was the fifth in six months on the Reykjanes Peninsula. Two hours after the eruption began, lava flowed less than a kilometer. of a defensive barrier protecting the fishing village of Grindavik, the barrier itself located about a kilometer from the northern tip of the town. Most of the 4,000 residents had evacuated Grindavik in November, before an eruption in December. Lava flowed through city streets during another eruption in January, engulfing three homes. While many of those who were in the city on Wednesday — for work or visits — left immediately, a few diehard residents refused to leave, the Civil Protection Ministry said. and Emergency Management said on its Facebook page. “Despite the recommendations of the intervention teams to leave the city, three residents remain in Grindavik. Such actions are not recommended,” he said. The nearby geothermal spa Blue Lagoon, Iceland's biggest tourist attraction known for its turquoise waters, announced that it had evacuated its facilities on Wednesday. Maia Biegatch, a tourist “We received alerts on our phones telling us 'evacuate, evacuate', so we turned around,” she told AFP. “It was a total surprise. .” The eruption, however, was not expected to disrupt air traffic, with Keflavik International Airport “open and operating as usual,” airport operator Isavia said on its website. “The The erupting cloud reached an altitude of about 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) earlier this year. “eruption” and the length of the fissure was estimated at more than a kilometer, the Icelandic Weather Bureau said shortly after the eruption began at 12:46 p.m. (12:46 GMT). About 90 minutes later, the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management said the crack had extended 3.4 kilometers. The lava flow was significant, estimated at between 1,500 and 2,000 cubic meters per second, the IMO said. The eruption came nearly three weeks after the end of a previous eruption that had lasted since March 16. Over the past six months, volcanoes have erupted on the peninsula in December, January, February and March. – '400 earthquakes' – The IMO had reported “intense seismic activity” before Wednesday's eruption, with “around 400 earthquakes” measured in the past. seven days near the Sundhnukagigar crater range. Additionally, around 20 million cubic meters of magma had accumulated in the magma chamber beneath Svartsengi, where there is a power plant that provides electricity and water to around 30,000 people on the peninsula. The plant has been evacuated and largely managed remotely since the region first erupted in December, and barriers have been built to protect it. Until March 2021, the Reykjanes Peninsula had not experienced an eruption for eight centuries. Further eruptions occurred in August 2022, and then in July and December 2023. Volcanologists believed that the start of a new era of seismic activity had begun in the region. Iceland is home to 33 active volcanic systems, the highest number in Europe. It is located astride the mid-Atlantic ridge. , a crack in the ocean floor separating the Eurasian and North American tectonic platesstr-po/imm