Iceland volcano erupts for sixth time since December, spewing fountains of lava
A volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted on Thursday, the meteorological office said, spraying red-hot lava and smoke in its sixth outbreak since December.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted on Thursday, the meteorological office said, spraying red-hot lava and smoke in its sixth outbreak since December.
The total length of the fissure was about 2.42 miles and had extended by nearly a mile in about 40 minutes, the Icelandic Met Office, which is tasked with monitoring volcanoes, said in a statement.
Livestreams from the volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula showed glowing hot lava shooting up from the ground, their bright-yellow and orange colors set in sharp contrast against the dark night sky.
“The impact is limited to a localized area near the eruption site. It does not present a threat to life and the area nearby was evacuated,” Iceland’s ministry for foreign affairs said on social media X.
The lava was not flowing towards the nearby Grindavik fishing town, whose nearly 4,000 residents have been mostly evacuated since November, the Met office said.
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