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A volcano erupted this Friday in Iceland about 40 km from the capital, Reykjavik, causing a river of lava and lighting the sky with a red cloud. A torrent of lava gushed from a fissure in the ground at Geldingadalur, near Fagradalsfjall Mountain, according to video footage recorded by a Coast Guard helicopter.
“The eruption began in Fagradalsfjall, in Geldingadalur, the eruption is considered to be small and the fissure is about 500-700 meters long. The lava is less than one km2 in size,” the Meteorologic service (IMO), which monitors seismic activity.
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The Krysuvik volcanic system is located south of Fagradalsfjall Mountain, on the Reykjanes Peninsula, in southwestern Iceland.
“The Meteorological Agency received the first notification on Friday night. The eruption was confirmed by webcams and satellite images, “the agency said on its website.
The first image of the eruption. Taken from the Coast Guard helicopter. The southern tip of the tongue is about 2.6 km from Suðurstrandarvegur. According to initial information, the fissure is about 200 m long. pic.twitter.com/MeRCLCtcrv
– Icelandic Meteorological Office – IMO (@Vedurstofan) March 19, 2021
The police and the coast guard have been sent to the place but the population has been advised not to approach. Iceland’s Keflavik International Airport and the small fishing port of Grindavik are just a few km away, but the area is uninhabited and the eruption is not expected to pose a danger.
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The volcanic eruptions in the region are effusive, that is, most of the lava flows towards the ground, unlike the explosive ones that throw clouds of ash towards the sky. The Krysuvik volcanic system has been dormant for 900 years, according to the Met Office, and the last eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula dates back almost 800 years, to 1240.
The first known images of the place that have been uploaded to social networks show a dark sky with red and orange hues.
According to Icelandic media, the authorities have asked the population to stay in their homes until the evolution of the event can be seen.
The country’s prime minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, has called for calm to the population through social networks and recalled that they are monitoring the situation, although she insists on asking that no one approach the affected area.
A volcanic eruption has started at Fagradalsfjall on the Reykjanes Peninsula. We are monitoring the situation closely and for now it is not considered a threat to the surrounding cities. We ask people to stay out of the immediate area and stay safe. https://t.co/iIACfCc31E
– Katrín Jakobsdóttir (@katrinjak) March 19, 2021
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This large island near the Arctic Circle straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a fissure in the ocean floor that separates the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. The displacement of these plates is partly responsible for the intense volcanic activity in Iceland.
Aerial image of the erupting volcano site and the lava sites.
The most recent eruption occurred in Holuhraun (started in August 2014 and ended in February 2015), in the Bardarbunga volcanic system, in an uninhabited area in the center of the island. This eruption did not cause major problems, beyond those caused to the nearest towns. But in 2010, an eruption at the Eyjafjallajokull volcano spewed huge clouds of smoke and ash into the atmosphere, disrupting air traffic for more than a week, with the cancellation of more than 100,000 flights worldwide that left about 10 million. of passengers blocked for days.
AFP
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