A VOLCANO in southwest Iceland has erupted AGAIN this morning and is spewing lava 80 metres into the air along a new 1.9-mile crack in the Earth.
It is the third to hit the area since December and has forced the evacuation of a nearby town and the Blue Lagoon tourist resort.
AFPThe molten rock blew viciously out of the new fissure[/caption]
AFP
The eruption of the Sylingarfell volcano, located just 3km north of the fishing community of Grindavik, began at 6am local time after a sudden burst of earthquakes.
Lava fountains began shooting into the air as locals gasped in horror amid fears of more home being destroyed.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said it was roughly the exact same location as the major eruption on December 18.
One of Iceland’s biggest tourist attractions, the Blue Lagoon, was closed and all the guests were evacuated safely from their hotels, local news reported.
The met office added that the lava was flowing to the west and there was no immediate threat to Grindavik – where a community of 3,800 has been evacuated twice in recent months.
Civil defence officials said that no one was believed to be in the town at the time of the eruption.
During a mid-January eruption, the “worst case scenario” took place as several houses were melted as the molten rock swept past the town’s new defences.
In November, Grindavik residents had to move out to safety ahead of the largest volcanic eruption to date in their area when a series of earthquakes led to cracks and openings in the earth close to the town.
The local population described the horrors of being whisked from their homes as the ground shook, roads cracked and buildings threatened to collapse.
They were forced to stay away from the town for six weeks and were only allowed to return on December 22.
In the weeks after, defensive walls had been placed around the volcano in hopes of directing the magma away from the community – but they were breached during the January eruption.
Located between the Eurasian and the North American tectonic plates – among the largest on the planet – Iceland is a seismic and volcanic hot spot as the two plates move in opposite directions.
Reykjanes peninsula is home to 32 active volcanoes which were dormant for 800 years until 2021.
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ReutersThe volcano sews lava and smoke as it erupts, near Grindavik[/caption]
A similar eruption in mid January melted houses in Grindavik