A volcano in southwestern <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/iceland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iceland</a> erupted on Wednesday, prompting an evacuation order for around 800 tourists staying at nearby hotels and resorts.
The latest activity marks the fifth time the volcano has erupted since December. On Wednesday afternoon, the volcano began spewing lava from a fissure in the Sundhnjukar mountain ridge. Lava spouts fired as high as 150 feet into the air, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/world/europe/iceland-volcano-erupts-grindavik.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a>.
The eruption prompted the evacuation of hundreds of tourists staying at nearby hotels, including at Iceland’s famous Blue Lagoon, a popular geothermal spa. Nearly 800 guests in the area received a text on Wednesday that said, “Evacuate, Evacuate!” as sirens, installed in February, began to sound over the volcanic activity.
A <a href="https://www.bluelagoon.com/seismic-activity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">message</a> posted on the Blue Lagoon’s website announced that the spa will be closed until at least Friday.
“Due to a volcanic eruption that commenced in Sundhnúksgígar on May 29, we took the precautionary measure of evacuating and temporarily closing all our operational units. We have made the decision to extend the closure throughout May 31, at which time the situation will be reassessed,” the message says.
The volcanic activity has repeatedly threatened Grindavík, a small fishing town home to about 3,000 people, while barricades erected to protect the town have directed lava flows away from buildings. The town, located about 30 miles southwest of the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik, was evacuated months ago when eruptions began.
“Lava is flowing outside the defense walls at Grindavík in several places, and lava is also starting to flow outside the walls at Svartsengi,” Víðir Reynisson from Iceland’s Civil Defense said, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/30/europe/iceland-volcano-eruption-grindavik-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>.
“The houses in the west and farthest part of the town would have gone under the lava if it weren’t for the defensive walls, but they are still standing and defending,” Reynisson added.
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Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson, a professor of geophysics at the University of Iceland, said that the latest eruption has caused “significant damage” to pipes and roads around the town, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/30/iceland-volcano-erupts-grindavik-evacuation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post</a>.
The threat to the town was reduced by Thursday, Grindavík’s mayor said, according to CNN.
“I like the situation quite well compared to how it looked at the beginning of the eruption yesterday,” Mayor Fannar Jónasson said.
Images and videos of the eruption spread online showing lava spewing into the air from a massive crack in the ground. Clouds of smoke billowed from the fissure.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
❗🌋🇮🇸 &#8211; Incredible images of the eruption of the Sundhnuksgigarodur volcano in Iceland, which began today. 
This is the fifth eruptive episode since December, and the sight is simply spectacular! <a href="https://t.co/51PheGGb5k">pic.twitter.com/51PheGGb5k</a>
&mdash; 🔥🗞The Informant (@theinformant_x) <a href="https://twitter.com/theinformant_x/status/1795881856564367361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Iceland

Volcano Erupts In Iceland, Prompts Evacuation Order For Hundreds

Natural Disaster

Volcano

World

Volcanic activity marks a &#8220;new eruptive phase&#8221; scientists have warned as an area in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/iceland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iceland</a> gets rocked by more than a thousand earthquakes in recent days, which has resulted in homes being torn apart and more.
The small fishing town of Grindavik looks more like a &#8220;ghost town&#8221; following activity from the Fagradalsfjall volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula, the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12751583/Iceland-volcano-quakes-region-eruption-devastated-Grindavik-residents-houses-split.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Mail</a> reported.
Iceland&#8217;s Met Office told the outlet that the &#8220;likelihood of a volcanic eruption is high&#8221; in the coming days following a 2021 eruption after 800 years of inactivity.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Houses in Grindavík, Iceland, are starting to show the damage caused by the hundreds of earthquakes rocking the nation.
The likelihood of volcanic eruption remains high.
Stay tuned.<a href="https://t.co/SzfDIZBKxn">pic.twitter.com/SzfDIZBKxn</a>
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) <a href="https://twitter.com/steve_hanke/status/1724860688496226752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
Cambridge volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer said that the blast two years earlier kicked off &#8220;a new eruptive phase,&#8221; which he said could &#8220;mark the start of centuries of eruptions.&#8221;
&#8220;Time&#8217;s finally up,&#8221; Edward W. Marshall, a researcher at the University of Iceland&#8217;s Nordic Volcanological Center, told <a href="https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/volcanos/times-finally-up-impending-iceland-eruption-is-part-of-centuries-long-volcanic-pulse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Live Science</a>. &#8220;We can get ready for another few hundred years of eruptions on the Reykjanes.&#8221;
The coastal town in recent days has been the center of 1,100 quakes as magma continues to rise closer to the earth&#8217;s surface, with homes ripped from their foundation and giant cracks leaving gaping holes in main roads in the community.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This is Grindavík today. 
It remains evacuated. Roads are damaged. Residents have been allowed quickly to collect possessions in a controlled police operation. We were able to access briefly escorted by police. Steam is rising from damaged water pipes. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iceland?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Iceland</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/grindav%C3%ADk?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#grindavík</a> <a href="https://t.co/AGM8Tgj0lm">pic.twitter.com/AGM8Tgj0lm</a>
— Laura Goehler (@LauraGoehler) <a href="https://twitter.com/LauraGoehler/status/1724882981775429678?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
Some 4,000 residents were forced to evacuate the area with some allowed back to collect personal belongings before officials ordered that they leave again due to increased levels of sulphur dioxide (a possible indicator of an eruption) that had been detected, the outlet noted.
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&#8220;At this stage, it is not possible to determine exactly whether and where magma might reach the surface,&#8221; the Meteorological Office said.
One resident told MailOnline, &#8220;Friday was terrible, the earthquakes did not stop for many hours, but we left our house Friday night at 9 p.m. with clothes for two days and two boxes of photo albums, then just planned to come the next day to pick up more.&#8221;
&#8220;I feel ok, but get scared and jump at the slightest sound, and then we are homeless in one minute &#8211; I&#8217;ve got all kinds of emotions going on,&#8221; the person added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8216;It is like the ground has been unzipped&#8217;
A report from Grindavik, Iceland as the country is placed on high alert for a volcanic eruption, with a state of emergency declared and almost 4,000 residents evacuated. <a href="https://t.co/cxGwe9tG5X">pic.twitter.com/cxGwe9tG5X</a>
— Ajeet De Soyza (@ajeetsrilanka) <a href="https://twitter.com/ajeetsrilanka/status/1724893261733761360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
&#8220;We got to go inside the house on Monday,&#8221; the resident added. &#8220;We had seven minutes to pick up what we wanted to save, but the emphasis was on personal things from my family &#8212; my mother, grandmother and grandfather &#8212; and clothes.&#8221;
The area was hit with a three-week eruption in August 2022, which was followed by another earlier this summer.

MEXICO-VOLCANO-POPOCATEPETL

Volcanic Activity Marks ‘New Eruptive Phase’ As Iceland Rocked By More Than A Thousand Quakes

Disasters

earthquake

News

Iceland declared a state of emergency, and officials are evacuating thousands of residents over concerns of volcanic activity.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office has <a href="https://en.vedur.is/about-imo/news/a-seismic-swarm-started-north-of-grindavik-last-night">recorded</a> thousands of earthquakes in the country&#8217;s southwest region over the past several days. Police began warning residents of the coastal town of Grindavík to evacuate Friday, fearing a magma tunnel forming underneath the ground, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/11/europe/iceland-emergency-evacuates-threat-volcanic-eruption-intl-hnk/index.html">CNN</a>.
“Seismicity along the magma intrusion continues, although the size and intensity of the activity is decreasing. Since midnight today, 13 November, around 900 earthquakes have been detected. The seismic activity is concentrated on the region of the intrusion, between Sundhnúkur and Grindavík at a depth of about 2–5 km,” the Icelandic Meteorological Office posted in an update Monday morning.
On Saturday, Icelandic officials determined that “the likelihood of a volcanic eruption is high, and that an eruption could be possible on a timescale of just days.”
On Monday morning, video surfaced online showing a large crack running through Grindavík emanating smoke.
https://twitter.com/WxNB_/status/1724076210311791005
Bjarni Benediktsson, the minister of foreign affairs, announced on Saturday that Grindavik’s 3,700 residents were successfully evacuated.
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“Icelandic Civil Protection authorities have declared a state of emergency following increased seismic activity in Reykjanes Peninsula. As a precautionary measure the town of Grindavík (population 3669) was successfully evacuated last night and thankfully everyone is safe,” Benediktsson <a href="https://twitter.com/Bjarni_Ben/status/1723332947934072980">posted</a> on social media.
“The likelihood of a volcanic eruption is deemed considerable. Seismic activity is part of Icelandic life and this is in a contained, localised area of the country. There are no disruptions to flights to and from Iceland and international flight corridors remain open,” he added.
Evacuations began on Friday when the Civil Protection Agency warned Icelanders that “we are dealing with events that we Icelanders have not experienced before, at least not since the eruption in Vestmannaeyjar.”
“We faced that together, we will face this together and we will not lose heart,” the agency said, according to CNN.

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Iceland Evacuates Thousands Over ‘Likelihood Of Volcanic Eruption’

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Iceland

Volcano Erupts In Iceland, Prompts Evacuation Order For Hundreds

Volcanic Activity Marks ‘New Eruptive Phase’ As Iceland Rocked By More Than A Thousand Quakes

Iceland Evacuates Thousands Over ‘Likelihood Of Volcanic Eruption’