ICELANDIC VOLCANO ERUPTED FOR THE FOURTH TIME IN THREE MONTHS

Sun 17 March 2024:

Local media in the seaside town of Grindavik, Iceland, reported on Sunday that residents had witnessed their fourth volcanic explosion in the previous three months.

The Grindavikurvegur, which connects the southwest town to the rest of the Reykjanes Peninsula, has seen lava flow over it, as reported by state radio RUV. The eruption began at 8:23 p.m. (2023GMT) on Saturday, local time.

It stated that the source of the current eruption is closer to the summit of the Stora-Skogfell mountain than the previous one, which happened on February 8.

According to reports, the fissure is roughly 3.5 kilometers (2.17 miles) long, with lava flowing south towards the defensive wall north of Grindavik, west towards Grindavikurvegur, and to the east.

Grindavik and the nearby Blue Lagoon thermal baths were quickly evacuated, while the Keflavik Airport in the northwest and other regional airports were not impacted by the eruption and remain fully operational, added RUV.

The current eruption, closely monitored by the Icelandic Meteorological Office, is “the most powerful in the current system so far,” it cited geophysicist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson as saying.

“Right now, the situation is that we are primarily monitoring the progress of the lava flows. One flows southeast towards the sea, but it travels very slowly. We also monitor a tongue that travels west, north of Svartsengi,” the RUV quoted the expert.

The report noted that the defensive walls appeared to be holding back the lava flow and directing it towards the sea, while another flow north of the walls was approaching a heating supply line but that there was still some distance to it.

The heating line is about 250 meters away (over 820 feet) from the lava flow, which is traveling slowly to the west, it said, adding that the flows had become less active and slowed down.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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