A volcanic eruption takes place, close to Grindavik, Iceland, March 16, 2024, on this handout image obtained by Reuters. Public Safety Division of Icelandic Police/Handout by way of REUTERS
COPENHAGEN — A volcano in Iceland that erupted on Saturday for the fourth time since December was nonetheless spewing smoke and vivid orange lava into the air on Monday though infrastructure and a close-by fishing city have been protected for now, authorities stated.
Magma had been accumulating underground on the Reykjanes peninsula close to Iceland’s capital Reykjavik for the reason that final eruption in February, prompting authorities to warn of an imminent eruption.
The warning time late on Saturday was solely quarter-hour earlier than fountains of molten rock started hovering from a 3 km-long (1.9 mile) fissure, roughly the identical measurement and on the identical place because the earlier eruption.
READ: Iceland lava flows sluggish after fourth eruption since December
Round 1700 GMT, the Icelandic Meteorological Workplace stated volcanic eruption exercise had been comparatively secure since late on Sunday. It was now targeted at two areas alongside the eruptive fissure, the workplace stated in an replace on the state of affairs.
Man-made obstacles have been profitable in steering the lava away from infrastructure together with the Svartsengi geothermal energy plant and Grindavik, a fishing city of some 4,000 residents.
Footage from public broadcaster RUV confirmed lava flowing a number of hundred metres from the city, which was evacuated throughout an eruption in November and once more throughout one other one in February.
“The defences at Grindavik proved their worth … they’ve guided the lava circulate within the supposed course,” native utility HS Orka stated, including that infrastructure operating to the Svartsengi energy plant was intact.
Lava had over the weekend flowed over one of many three roads going into Grindavik, and on Monday, it inched south in direction of one other street into the city.
The lava seemed unlikely to succeed in the ocean, the met workplace stated, including that hazardous gases from the volcano have been unlikely to succeed in Reykjavik because of robust winds.
Reykjavik’s Keflavik Airport stated it remained absolutely operational.
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The eruption was the seventh on the Reykjanes peninsula since 2021, when geological techniques that had lain dormant for round 800 years once more grew to become lively.