According to a statement from the Icelandic Meteorological Office (Met) on December 18, a volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland is currently erupting after weeks of earthquakes shaking the area.
Iceland volcano erupts after an “earthquake”. (Photo: Eldgosið séð frá Vatnsleysuströnd).
The eruption is taking place on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland. According to Reuters, around 4,000 people have been evacuated from Grindavík, a fishing village on the peninsula, while authorities have also closed the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa in the town.
The Met Office stated: “An eruption has begun north of Grindavík. It can be seen on webcam and appears to be near Hagafell, about 3 km north of Grindavík. The eruption started after hundreds of earthquakes last month.”
The Met Office further indicated that a Coast Guard helicopter will take off to confirm the exact location and scale of the eruption.
The eruption is part of a 1,000-year volcanic activity cycle on the Reykjanes Peninsula and is a sign that this area may witness eruptions for centuries to come, Edward W. Marshall, a researcher at the Nordic Volcanological Center of the University of Iceland, told Live Science in 2017.
Hundreds of daily earthquakes began shaking the area in October, leading scientists to believe that an eruption was imminent. More recently, from December 12 to December 15, there were over 460 earthquakes in the region, including 30 quakes with a magnitude greater than 1.0 on the Richter scale, according to the Met Office.
