The Icelandic capital, Avolcanonear, erupted late on Wednesday for the eighth time in a year, releasing smoke and lava fountains, according to the country’s meteorological service. However, neither infrastructure nor air traffic were affected.
At 11:14 p.m. local time on Wednesday, the eruption began without much notice and formed a fissure that was just under two miles long. According to Iceland’s meteorological service, which keeps an eye on seismic activity, the activity is expected to be significantly less than the previous eruption in August.
Luminous hot lava with vivid yellow and orange hues was seen shooting up into the night sky in social media livestreams from the region.
Just forty-five minutes before a huge ground crack was created by magma pushing through the earth’s crust, the first indications of an eruption were noted, according to Iceland’s meteorological office.
As magma collected beneath the Reykjanes peninsula, about 20 miles southwest of the capital Reykjavik, where the most recent eruption ended only on September 6, authorities had previously issued warnings of volcanic activity. But according to the meteorological office, there hasn’t been any discernible rise in seismic activity in recent weeks.
Magnus Tumi Gu Mundsson, a geophysics professor who flew over the region with the Civil Protection agency to observe the occurrence, told the national RUV radio that, in the grand scheme of things, this eruption is a little smaller than the last one and the one that happened in May.
Because the fissure eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula do not significantly disperse ash into the stratosphere and have not directly impacted the capital city, aviation travel has not been disrupted.
Although the Blue Lagoon, a posh geothermal spa resort, had closed and evacuated its patrons, Reykjavik’s Keflavik Airport stated on its website that flights were unaffected and no vital infrastructure was in jeopardy, according to RUV.
Due to the recurring threat of lava flows, the adjoining fishing village of Grindavik, which had around 4,000 residents prior to an evacuation order in December of last year, is still largely abandoned.
Although there was no sign of lava flowing into the town, the civil protection office stated in a statement that about fifty homes belonging to those who had returned had been evacuated.
Magn S. Tumi stated that although nothing can be ruled out, Grindav K is not in danger as it appears and that it is unlikely that this crack will get any worse.
With 400,000 residents, Iceland is situated above a North Atlantic volcanic hot zone and experiences eruptions on average every four to five years. The 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which sent ash clouds into the stratosphere and caused months-long disruptions to transatlantic air travel, was the most disruptive event in recent memory.
The region’s geological systems, which had been dormant for 800 years, awakened in 2021 and have subsequently erupted more often; the most recent outburst is the sixth in 2024.
Reykjanes is expected to see frequent volcanic eruptions for decades, if not millennia, according to experts.
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