Latest news Bubbling lava fountains: New volcanic eruption in Iceland

Huge amounts of lava are once again spewing out of the earth in Iceland. The sixth volcanic eruption in nine months on the North Atlantic island began on Thursday evening - and provided spectacular images.

A livestream from the radio station RÚV showed lava gushing out of an almost four-kilometer-long fissure in the earth on the Reykjanes Peninsula southwest of the capital Reykjavik. About an hour before the eruption, there had been a relatively strong earthquake that could be felt as far away as the capital region.

"The ground opened up like a zipper," reported a correspondent for the broadcaster from the area. According to the Icelandic Meteorological Office, a hot gas cloud rose one kilometer into the night sky, while a network of shimmering orange lava veins poured over cooled volcanic rock from previous eruptions.

Fishing village of Grindavík evacuated

The fishing village of Grindavík, about 40 kilometers southwest of Reykjavik, was evacuated as a precaution. In January, several houses on the northern outskirts of the 4000-inhabitant community were swept away and destroyed by the lava masses during an eruption. This time, the glowing stream of liquid rock did not initially appear to be flowing towards the village. However, experts warned after a coastguard inspection flight that it was still too early to give the all-clear.

The island's international airport in Keflavík is also located on the Reykjanes peninsula. However, as with the previous eruptions, flight operations continued undisturbed. Take-offs and landings were not hindered by the volcanic eruption and the gas clouds, according to the airport's website.

Such natural spectacles can also have consequences for the infrastructure in the region and Iceland's district heating and electricity supply. According to the operator, the Blue Lagoon geothermal baths, which are popular with tourists, were to remain closed on Friday.

Sixth eruption in nine months

The fissure eruptions on the peninsula in the southwest of Iceland can be traced back to several volcanic systems with underground magma chambers. There had not been an eruption of this kind for almost 800 years before the first eruption occurred in March 2021. Since then, the lava in the region has repeatedly made its way to the surface and bubbled up from elongated fissures in the earth.

Since December 2023 alone, there have now been six volcanic eruptions in the sparsely populated area. The last such eruption occurred at the end of May. Researchers assume that the current series of eruptions could continue for decades. After each eruption, the situation often calmed down again after just a few days.

Earthquakes as harbingers

The Icelandic Meteorological Office had warned of an impending eruption in recent weeks. Recently, the number of earthquakes in the area has increased continuously, while more and more magma has accumulated under the earth's surface - this time even more than during the last eruption in May.

The eruptions on the Reykjanes Peninsula are not like those from a classic volcanic mountain. Instead, the lava flows out of an elongated crack in the earth, which is why this type of eruption is also known as a fissure eruption. As a rule, this does not produce a large ash cloud - unlike the eruption at the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic glacier in 2010, for example, whose kilometre-high cloud paralyzed international air traffic for days.