Spectacular helicopter footage shows the island’s coastline exploding
A volcano that erupted in southwest Iceland on Monday is weakening, although new vents could open at short notice, the country’s weather office said.
The eruption, which occurred on the Reykjanes peninsula, came after weeks of severe earthquakes and tremors.
About 4,000 people were evacuated last month from the fishing town of Grindavik threatened by lava flows.
No injuries were reported, but there are fears that homes may be damaged.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said on Tuesday evening that the eruption was “continuing to weaken”, with aerial images showing three vents erupting, down from the previous five.
Vents are openings in a volcano through which magma erupts or volcanic gases escape.
While the eruption continues, the Met Office said there was an “increased likelihood of more vents opening” to the north or south of the original fracture and that warning time for new vent openings “may be very short”. “.
Pollution from the volcano warned that it could reach the capital Reykjavík, 42 km (26 miles) from Grindavik, although this did not happen until midnight on Wednesday.
On Tuesday night, a man who was lost near the site of the explosion was rescued by helicopter, Icelandic media reported.
Officials have warned people to stay away from the area, saying it is not a tourist destination.
‘Fear and Waiting’
In 2010, a volcanic eruption sent a plume of ash several kilometers into the atmosphere, leading to several days of air travel blackouts in Europe.
Volcanologist Dr Evgenia Ilinskaya told the BBC on Tuesday that there would not be the same level of disruption as in 2010, as these volcanoes in south-west Iceland were “physically incapable of producing homogeneous ash clouds”.
Speaking from Iceland, Dr Ilinskaya, associate professor of volcanology at the University of Leeds, said local people were “waiting in fear” for the volcano to erupt.
On Tuesday, Iceland’s Foreign Minister Bjarni Benediktsson said on X, earlier on Twitter, “There will be no disruption to flights to and from Iceland, and international flight corridors will remain open.”
“The Jets [of lava] “It’s very high, so it looks like a powerful explosion at the beginning,” he said.
image source, Anton Brink/EPA
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