The southwest Icelandic volcano’s lava flows, which had illuminated the night sky on Saturday, appeared to be successful in diverting the lava away from human settlements and infrastructure, including a nearby fishing village, on Sunday.
The fourth eruption since December started on Saturday night, shooting molten rock jets out of a crack that was about 3 kilometers long and nearly the same size as the previous eruption in February.
“There was more debris erupting from the eruption than before, and it was fairly energetic. Thus, the flow of lava was rather rapid, as stated by Halldor Geirsson, an associate professor at the University of Iceland’s Institute of Earth Sciences, in a statement to Reuters.
Magma has been building up underground on the Reykjanes peninsula, which is located south of Iceland’s capital Reykjavik, and authorities had been warning for weeks that an eruption was likely.
Early on Sunday, a livestream video captured lava pouring within a short distance from Grindavik, a fishing village with 4,000 residents that had to be evacuated twice—first during an eruption in November and once more during the most recent eruption in February.
On Saturday, a few residents who had subsequently gone back home were evacuated, according to RUV, the state broadcaster.
According to Geirsson, “the rate of the lava flow is getting lower and lower.” “It appears that the barriers are serving their intended purpose because the majority of the flow is heading east of the town toward the sea.”
The Icelandic Meteorological Office reported that authorities were also keeping an eye on lava streaming toward the Svartsengi geothermal power station on the peninsula.
Fissure eruptions, which are the type of volcanic eruptions that occur on the Reykjanes peninsula, are characterized by a lack of big explosions or extensive ash distribution into the stratosphere.
Lava was flowing from three locations and the fissure’s activity had lessened by Sunday midday, according to a statement from the Met Office.
According to information on airport operator Isavia’s website on Sunday, Keflavik Airport and other minor airports in Iceland remained fully operating and unaffected.
As it has in the past during eruptions, the neighboring Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, one of Iceland’s top tourist destinations, shuttered.
Over 20,000 people lost heat as a result of the February eruption, which also wrecked pipelines and roads due to lava flows.
