Volcano in southwestern Iceland erupts for seventh time in a year

A volcano in Iceland has erupted for the seventh time in a year, spewing lava from a fissure on the southwestern Reykjanes Peninsula.

The country’s meteorological office that monitors seismic activity said the latest eruption happened late on Wednesday night, creating a fissure around three kilometres long.

Officials say the latest eruption is considerably smaller than the previous one in August and indicates that the eruption has reached its peak.

While the eruption poses no threat to aviation, authorities are warning of gas across parts of the peninsula, including the nearby town of Grindavík.

The repeated volcanic eruptions close to Grindavík, a town of almost 4,000 people about 50 kilometres southwest of the capital, Reykjavík, have damaged infrastructure and property and forced many residents to evacuate to guarantee their safety.

Authorities say the town is not threatened further by this latest eruption but it remains mostly deserted following evacuation orders issued in December last year.

Iceland’s main international airport, Keflavík, said in a statement on its website that flights were unaffected and no critical infrastructure was at risk of being damaged.

But the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, one of Iceland’s most popular tourist destinations, had shut down and evacuated its guests, with the Iceland Monitor news site saying the entire car park had been covered in lava.

“We are observing and assessing the situation as it unfolds. This is a new challenge we must address, requiring us to evaluate our options moving forward,” said the lagoon’s manager of sales and operations, Helga Árnadóttir.

Iceland lies on the fault line between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates and is a hotspot for seismic activity.

The volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula had been dormant for around 800 years before the geological systems sprang back into life in 2021.

Eruptions in the area have since been more and more frequent, with the latest volcanic activity being the sixth this year alone.

Experts have warned that Reykjanes is likely to experience repeated volcanic outbreaks for decades.