Hundreds flee after Icelandic volcano erupts for fourth time this year

Fourth state of emergency this year declared in Iceland
Lava erupting from a volcano
AP
William Mata17 March 2024

A state of emergency has been declared in Iceland after a volcanic eruption in the country’s south.

This regional warning marks the fourth state of emergency for the Nordic country since December, with lava already reaching Grindavik. The town has been evacuated.

Livestreams showed fountains of molten rock soaring from fissures in the ground after authorities had warned for weeks that an eruption was imminent on the Reykjanes Peninsula just south of the capital Reykjavik.

"Warning: An eruption began in Reykjanes," the Icelandic Meteorological Office said on its website, while Reykjavik's Keflavik Airport's website showed it remained open both for departures and arrivals.

It follows on from a dramatic eruption in February which fired lava 260ft into the air. In this incident at least three homes were set on fire.

Iceland's Meteorological Office said on Sunday that streams of lava are still flowing but the rate has now begun to slow down.

A volcanic eruption takes place, near Grindavik, Iceland
via REUTERS

"The eruption was quite energetic, and there was a lot of material coming out, more than in the previous eruption. So lava was flowing quite fast," Halldor Geirsson, associate professor at the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland, said. 

Authorities had warned for weeks that an eruption was imminent on the Reykjanes peninsula just south of Iceland's capital Reykjavik, as magma had been accumulating underground.

Livestream video early on Sunday showed lava flowing just a few hundred metres from Grindavik. The fishing town of some 4,000 residents that was evacuated during an eruption in November and once more for the last eruption in February.

"The rate of the lava flow is getting lower and lower," said Mr Geirsson. "Most of the flow is going east of the town towards the sea, so it looks like the barriers are doing the job they were designed for."

Authorities were also monitoring lava flowing towards the peninsula's Svartsengi geothermal power plant, The Icelandic Meteorological Office said.

Volcanic outbreaks in the Reykjanes peninsula are so-called fissure eruptions, which do not usually cause large explosions or significant dispersal of ash into the stratosphere.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in