Fountains of lava could be seen shooting against the night sky after the eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula, but the flow of lava from the volcano has since slowed, said Rike Pedersen, head of the Scandinavian Center for Volcanology.
“This is a typical beginning of an explosion,” he noted. “In the beginning we record high lava jets and great power and very quickly this activity decreases, but this does not tell us anything about how long the phenomenon will last.”
Iceland: Warning from the meteorological service
The weather service warned that volcanic gases released by the eruption could be carried by the wind to the south and southeast.
Lava initially flowed from the volcano at a rate of up to 2,000 cubic meters per second, with the current, lower rate now being recorded compared to that of the last eruption in May, she added.
The fissure at the volcano, which has erupted six times since December, stretched to 5km during the day from 3.9km late last night, Pedersen said.
The luxury spa evacuation near the volcano
The nearby luxury Blue Lagoon Spa, a popular tourist attraction with large outdoor pools heated by geothermal energy, was evacuated late last night and remains closed today, its management said in a statement.
About 1,300 guests and staff were at the spa, Icelandic newspaper Morgunbladid reported.
“We went there as tourists looking for a good day,” said realtor Dennis Murphy, of Cape Cod, Mass., who visited the spa with his daughter.
“The next thing we saw was the ground exploding next to us,” added the 53-year-old. Together with his daughter, they watched the sky turn red, while they were removed from the area.
“There was a real sense of urgency as we were trying to get out of there. The staff was throwing all our stuff into our bag and just saying, you have to get out of here,” she described.
The nearby town of Grindavik, which has been threatened by lava and has been hit by earthquakes during previous eruptions, is not immediately affected, according to the same source, with Pedersen noting that rivers of lava stopped short of reaching a street in surrounding area.
There are also no problems with aircraft routes to and from the capital’s Keflavik airport, according to its website today.
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