Iceland volcano lava 'flowing faster than rate of other eruptions'

A volcano in south-west Iceland erupted on Monday night following weeks of earthquake activity that caused a 10-mile long fissure in a road and put the country in a state of emergency. 

Lava is spewing from the volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula at a rate of up to 200 cubic metres per second, according to the country’s Meteorological Office which noted that was faster than any eruption in the region in recent years.

A ‘‘fountain’’ of molten rock had broken through a crack which the Met Office said had ‘‘grown rapidly’’ late on Monday night.

Recordings of seismic activity, which is east of the magma tunnel that formed on Nov. 10, suggested lava would threaten Grindavík, a fishing village of about 4,000 people.

‘‘This development of the seismic activity together with measurements from GPS devices is an indication that the magma is moving southwest,’’ the Met Office said.

Authorities had already evacuated Grindavík before the eruption and had closed the nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, one of Iceland’s most popular tourist attractions.

By midnight, the lava had coloured the night sky orange:

Reykjavik’s international airport, which is located nearby, remained open.

“At the moment, there are no disruptions to arrivals or departures at Keflavík Airport,” the airport said on its website.

A coast guard helicopter will be in the air shortly to confirm the exact location and size of the eruption, the Met Office said.

Reykjanes peninsula has been the site of several eruptions in recent years, but the latest outbreak could pose a risk to the Grindavik town, authorities have said.

Iceland, which has 33 active volcanic systems, had declared a state of emergency in November when experts said an eruption was imminent.

Prior to an eruption in March 2021 eruption, the Reykjanes peninsula had been dormant for eight centuries.

But in the past two months, thousands of tremors were recorded around the volcano.

Iceland straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a crack in the ocean floor separating the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.

A massive eruption in April 2010 at another Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, in the south of the island - forced the cancellation of about 100,000 flights throughout Europe, leaving more than 10 million passengers stranded.

In 1783 about a quarter of the Icelandic population was killed when the Laki/Skaftareldar volcano erupted.

The 2021 eruption caused lava fountains to shoot out from a 1,640-2,460-foot-long fissure in the ground in the Fagradalsfjall volcanic system.