Dormant volcano erupts in Iceland
FLARING TO LIFE: Rivers of lava flow after the eruption in Fagradalsfjall, Iceland. Photo: Vilhelm Gunnarsson/Getty
A long-dormant volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in south-western Iceland flared to life on Friday night, spilling lava down two sides in the area's first volcanic eruption in nearly 800 years.
Initial aerial footage, posted on the Facebook page of the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) showed a relatively small eruption, with two streams of lava running in opposite directions. The glow from the lava could be seen from the outskirts of Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, which is about 32km away.
The Department of Emergency Management said it was not anticipating evacuations because the volcano is in a remote valley, about 2.5km from the nearest road.
The Fagradals Mountain volcano had been dormant for 6,000 years, and the Reykjanes Peninsula hadn't seen an eruption of any volcano in 781 years. There had been signs of a possible eruption recently, with earthquakes occurring daily for the past three weeks. But volcanologists were still taken by surprise because the seismic activity had calmed down before the eruption.
Unlike the eruption in 2010 of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which halted approximately 900,000 flights and forced hundreds of Icelanders from their homes, this eruption is not expected to spew much ash or smoke into the atmosphere, the IMO said. Located between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, among the largest on the planet, Iceland is a seismic and volcanic hotspot as the two plates move in opposite directions.
Sunday Independent
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