At least two houses are burning in the Icelandic town of Grindavik as lava from a volcanic eruption that began on Sunday reached buildings, national broadcaster RUV reported.
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Earlier on Sunday, a volcanic eruption began on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southern Iceland near the town of Grindavik, from where all residents had previously been evacuated; authorities declared a state of emergency.
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“At least two houses in Grindavik are currently on fire,” the television company reports.
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RUV also reports, citing Benedikt Halldoursson, an earthquake specialist at the Icelandic Meteorological Service, that the protective barriers, although not yet fully completed, contained most of the lava, its flows passing along the barrier.
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According to the television company, a second crack has opened near the city.
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Back in November, Icelandic media reported that the country’s authorities evacuated the city of Grindavik in the south of the country due to the danger of lava coming to the surface, due to the accumulation of a large amount of magma under the city after a series of earthquakes.
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Iceland is characterized by significant volcanic activity, as it is home to several mountain-volcanic systems. In 2010, the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano led to problems with air traffic over much of Western Europe.
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The Fagradalsfjall volcano, located just seven kilometers from Grindavik and about 30 kilometers from the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik, was considered dormant for 6 thousand years; on March 19, 2021, it began to erupt. This was preceded by a series of more than 40 thousand small earthquakes recorded on the Reykjanes Peninsula. After this, the volcano erupted again several times: in September 2021, in August 2022, in July 2023.
