A long-dormant volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland has flared back to life, spilling lava down two sides in that area's first volcanic eruption in nearly 800 years.
Initial aerial footage, posted on the Facebook page of the Icelandic Meteorological Office, showed a relatively small eruption so far, with two streams of lava running in opposite directions.
The glow from the lava could be seen from the outskirts of Iceland's capital, Reykjavík, which is about 32km away.
The Department of Emergency Management said it was not anticipating evacuations because the volcano is in a remote valley, about 2.5km from the nearest road.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.Read More
- Next Auckland eruption: Should you worry? Map pins volcano risk spots - NZ Herald
- 'Beautiful but deadly': NZ's ever-present volcanic risk - NZ Herald
- Tens of thousands flee as Philippines volcano spews lava half-mile high - NZ Herald
- Six months on, White Island could erupt again with little warning - NZ Herald
/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/TKLDDYZZWSSIUYVDMV72RI24B4.jpg)
The Fagradals Mountain volcano had been dormant for 6000 years, and the Reykjanes Peninsula hadn't seen an eruption of any volcano in 781 years.
There had been signs of a possible eruption recently, with earthquakes occurring daily for the past three weeks, but volcanologists were still taken by surprise because the seismic activity had calmed down before the eruption.
