A volcano in southwest Iceland erupted for the second time in less than a month on Sunday, with lava flowing toward a nearby community and igniting at least one house, according to The Associated Press.
The eruption commenced at about 8 a.m., after authorities evacuated the town of Grindavik following a series of minor earthquakes, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office. Several hours later, a second fissure opened on the outskirts of the town and lava oozed toward buildings.
Grindavik is a town of 3,800 people about 50 kilometres (30 miles) southwest of Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. Its population was evacuated in November after a series of earthquakes that opened large cracks in the ground between the town and Sýlingarfell, a small mountain to the north.
The volcano erupted on December 18, and the residents were allowed to return to their homes on December 22.
For several weeks, emergency workers built protective walls around Grindavik. However, the barriers have not been finished, and lava is now moving towards the community, the meteorological office reported.
Before last month’s eruption, the Svartsengi volcanic system north of Grindavik had been dormant for about 780 years. Saturday’s eruption sparked a “very rapid flow” of lava that moved south toward Grindavik, Kristín Jónsdóttir of the Met Office stated.
Luckily, we got some warnings, so we got increased earthquake activity, and this was all communicated towards the civil protection, so the town of Grindavik was evacuated.
Sunday’s eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula is not expected to release large amounts of ash. Operations at Keflavík airport continue as normal, according to Gudjon Helgason, spokesman for airport operator Isavia.
