GRINDAVIK, Iceland (AP) — A volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted Wednesday for the fifth time since December, spewing purple lava that when once more threatened the coastal city of Grindavik and led to the evacuation of the favored Blue Lagoon geothermal spa.
The eruption started within the early afternoon following a sequence of earthquakes north of the city of three,800 individuals that was largely evacuated in December when the volcano got here to life after centuries of dormancy and placed on a powerful present of nature’s energy.
Though exercise started to relax by early night, the eruption was estimated to be the world’s most vigorous to date, as lava shot 50 meters (165 ft) into the sky from a fissure that grew to three.5 kilometers (2.1 miles) in size, the Icelandic Meteorological Workplace stated.
Limitations constructed to guard Grindavik deflected the flowing lava that minimize off two of the three roads resulting in city and was near reaching the third.
“It’s a much larger volume that’s on the move right now headed for town,” Grindavik Mayor Fannar Jónasson instructed nationwide broadcaster RUV. “The lava has already conquered (a lot).”
Staff and anybody nonetheless on the town have been ordered to go away earlier within the day, police stated. The Blue Lagoon thermal spa — one in every of Iceland’s largest vacationer sights — was evacuated earlier than the eruption started, RUV stated.
At one level, a darkish plume of ash boiled up over the crater from an explosive interplay of magma hitting groundwater, scientists stated.
The cloud didn’t rise excessive sufficient to initially pose any menace to aviation, however scientists have been intently monitoring the scenario, Jóhanna Malen Skúladóttir, of the Met Workplace, instructed RUV.
Grindavik, which is about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, has been threatened since a swarm of earthquakes in November compelled an evacuation upfront of the preliminary Dec. 18 eruption. A subsequent eruption overwhelmed some defensive partitions and consumed a number of buildings.
The world is a part of the Svartsengi volcanic system that was dormant for practically 800 years earlier than reawakening.
The volcano erupted once more in February and March. The Feb. 8 eruption engulfed a pipeline, slicing off warmth and sizzling water to hundreds of individuals.
Iceland, which sits above a volcanic sizzling spot within the North Atlantic, sees common eruptions and is skilled at coping with them. Essentially the most disruptive in latest instances was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed enormous clouds of ash into the ambiance and led to widespread airspace closures over Europe.
Related Press author Brian Melley contributed from London.
