Iceland volcano: Lava spews from mile-long fissure after eruption

Credit: Icelandic Coast Guard/Cover ImagesThis video footage show the eruption of a volcano on Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula just after 10pm on Monday night (18December2023). The eruption came after weeks of intense earthquake activity. Around 4,000 people were evacuated from the fishing town of Grindavik. The peninsula, which is just south-west of Iceland’s capital Reykjavik has been experiencing an increase in seismic activity since late October. Officials from the Icelandic Met Office said the eruption was located about 4km (2.5 miles) north-east of Grindavik. The length of the fissure in the volcano is about 3.5km, with the lava flowing at a rate of around 100 to 200 cubic metres per second, according to the Met Office. It added that this was many times more than in previous eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula in recent years. However, Icelandic officials have moved to reassure people that the powerful eruption will not cause the same level of disruption as that of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010 - when flights across Europe were disrupted. Iceland's foreign minister, Bjarni Benediktsson wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “A volcanic eruption has started on the Reykjanes Peninsula. The eruption is about 3,5 km long close to Sundhnúka, north of Grindavik where evacuation orders have been in place. “There are no disruptions to flights to and from Iceland and international flight corridors remain open.”