The volcano erupted late Monday in southwest Iceland. emission of lava and smoke over a large area after weeks of intense seismic activity, according to the country’s meteorological office, threatening a nearby town.

At 22:17 (local time), the volcano began to erupt north of Grindavik, on the Reykjanes Peninsula. The eruption occurred near Sundhnukagigar, approximately four kilometers northeast of Grindavik, and can be seen through nearby webcams.

“The eruption was preceded A swarm of earthquakes that began at 21:00. This was reported by the Icelandic Meteorological and Seismological Office (MET) on its website.

Fearing a major eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula, authorities Almost 4,000 residents of the fishing village of Grindavik were evacuated last month. and they closed the nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal resort.

“Attention: the eruption has begun north of Grindavik at Hagafell,” The Met Office said on its website, noting that the eruption began a few kilometers from the city and that cracks in the ground extended towards it, about 40 kilometers southwest of the capital Reykjavik.

Nearby Keflavik International Airport remained open, although numerous delays both upon arrival and departure.

Footage and live broadcast of the eruption shown by the agency Reuters and other media showed molten stones gushed spectacularly from cracks in the ground, with bright yellow and orange colors that contrasted greatly with the dark night sky.

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“Seismic activity, together with measurements from GPS devices, indicate that magma moves southwest and that the eruption may continue in the direction of Grindavik,” the meteorological office said. The crack on the Earth’s surface was about 3.5 kilometers long and was growing rapidly, he added.

From 100 to 200 cubic meters of lava came out per second. Several times more than previous eruptions in the area, according to the meteorological department.

This was stated by the local police raised alert levels due to eruption and the country’s civil defense warned the public to stay away from the area while emergency officials assessed the situation.

(according to information from Reuters And EFE)