Latest news New volcanic eruption in Iceland
Iceland is experiencing its twelfth volcanic eruption in just over four years.
16.07.2025, 08:53
SDA
On the sparsely populated Reykjanes peninsula southwest of the capital Reykjavik, the earth opened up again in the morning after the impending eruption had been indicated only a few hours earlier by a swarm of earthquakes.
"An eruption has begun", the Icelandic Meteorological Office announced shortly before 4.00 a.m. (local time). Since then, live recordings from radio station RÚV have shown glowing red lava bubbling out of an elongated fissure in the earth. According to the weather office, this eruption fissure was initially around 700 to 1,000 meters long.
Experts said it was a favorable eruption site: there is therefore no danger to people in the nearby fishing village of Grindavík or infrastructure in the region as things stand. Nevertheless, according to RÚV, a popular campsite in Grindavík was evacuated as a precautionary measure, as was the Blue Lagoon geothermal baths, which are extremely popular with Icelandic vacationers. Once again, international air traffic from nearby Keflavik Airport was not expected to be affected.
Volcanic eruptions are no longer a rarity on the Reykjanes Peninsula. The last eruption there was at the beginning of April, which was long in the making but only lasted a few days. The current eruption is the twelfth since spring 2021 and the ninth since the end of 2023. Experts had recently expected the next eruption to occur in the fall.
