Police evacuated Grindavik in November after strong seismic activity in the area damaged homes and raised fears of an imminent eruption. Officials said magma could continue in that direction.
A volcanic eruption started Monday night on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula, turning the sky orange and prompting the country’s civil defense to be on high alert.
The eruption appears to have occurred about 2.4 miles from the town of Grindavik, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said. Grainy webcam video showed the moment of the eruption as a flash of light illuminating the sky at 10:17 p.m. local time. As the eruption spread, magma, or semi-molten rock, could be seen spewing along the ridge of a hill.
„The magma flow seems to be at least a hundred cubic meters per second, maybe more. So this would be considered a big eruption in this area at least,“ Vidir Reynisson, head of Iceland’s Civil Protection and Emergency Management told the Icelandic public broadcaster, RUV.
