Icelandic village evacuated as lava flows from volcanic eruption

Icelandic village evacuated as lava flows from volcanic eruption
by AFP Staff Writers
Reykjavik (AFP) April 1, 2025

A fishing village in southwest Iceland was evacuated Tuesday after lava began spewing from a volcanic eruption, the eighth to hit the region since the end of 2023.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said "an eruption has started on the Sundhnuksgigar Crater Row" north of the fishing village Grindavik.

Live video feeds showed lava spewing out of a fissure in the ground.

The IMO said initially reports indicated that the "eruptive fissure" extended about 700 metres (765 yards), reporting hours later that it extended about 1,200 metres.

Around 11:00 am (1100 GMT), the agency said that a "new eruptive fissure has opened a few hundred meters inside the protective barriers north of Grindavik -- between the barriers and the town itself".

The IMO warned earlier that an eruption could be imminent as "an earthquake swarm" began in the early morning in a similar fashion to previous eruptions.

Broadcaster RUV reported that authorities had evacuated Grindavik, though eight residents had decided to remain.

"We reiterate our instructions -- it was a request for people to leave the danger zone, but as has been stated, people have been staying in seven or eight houses there, and those individuals have decided to remain in the town," the region's police commissioner, Ulfar Ludviksson, told the broadcaster.

He added that they did not intend to force people to leave and that those who had opted to remain were well-acquainted with the escape routes.

Iceland's famed Blue Lagoon spa also announced that it had been closed for the day, adding that the situation would be reassessed at the end of the day.

An eruption hit the area as recently as November, which in turn was the seventh eruption in a year.

Most of Grindavik's 4,000 residents were evacuated in late 2023, shortly before the first volcanic eruption in the area.

Since then, almost all the houses have been sold to the state, and most of the residents departed.

Ludviksson had reported that recently, around 40 houses in Grindavik were occupied by residents, according to RUV.

Volcanoes on the peninsula had not erupted for eight centuries until March 2021, when a period of heightened seismic activity began.

Volcanologists warned that volcanic activity in the region had entered a new era.

Iceland is home to 33 active volcanic systems, more than any other European country.

It is located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a fault in the ocean floor that separates the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates and causes earthquakes and eruptions.