The Icelandic meteorological office said on Wednesday that a volcano erupted on a mountain near the capital, Reykjavik, an area that also experienced an eruption last year.
Pictures and live broadcasts on the Internet by local news stations (MBL) and (RIUV) showed lava and smoke rising from a fissure on the side of the Vajradalsvilla mountain, which last year witnessed a six-month eruption.
The Department of Civil Protection and Emergency said in a statement that tourists and residents should avoid the area due to the toxic gases, although there was no immediate risk of damage to vital infrastructure.
“For the time being, there are no disruptions to flights to and from Iceland and international flight lanes remain open,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Reykjanes Peninsula is an active volcanic and seismic spot, and the eruption occurred only 25 kilometers from Reykjavik and 15 kilometers from the country’s international airport.
In March of last year, the lava fountains spectacularly erupted in the area from a fissure of 500 to 750 meters in length, and continued until September, attracting thousands of Icelanders and tourists to the place.
And unlike the 2010 eruption of the ice-covered Ejavjalljokull volcano, which grounded nearly 100,000 flights and forced hundreds of Icelanders to leave their homes, the current eruption is not expected to spew much ash or smoke into the atmosphere.
