THE Grindavik volcano has finally erupted as huge amounts of molten lava can be seen billowing into the Iceland sky after weeks of concerns over the devastation it could cause.
Footage shows the moment of the blast as the dark sky is lit up in a fiery red as showers of smoke and blinding lights take over the Reykjanes peninsula.
TwitterGrindavik volcano has finally erupted in Iceland[/caption]
TwitterMolten lava was sent flying into the sky[/caption]
Sitting near Iceland’s capital of Reykjavik the eruption has come after the area recorded thousands of earthquakes over the last few weeks.
The eruption was confirmed by Iceland’s Meteorological Office Monday evening.
This is the volcanoes fourth eruption in just two years as Iceland is seen as a seismic and volcanic hot spot as the two plates – Eurasian and North American – move in opposite directions.
The country declared a state of emergency after recent concerns increased, with the UK foreign office warning that “no travel can be guaranteed safe”.
An evacuation effort had already taken place in recent days that saw nearly 4,000 people moved out of the fishing town of Grindavik in the country’s southwest.
Inhabitants of Grindavik described being whisked from their homes as the ground shook, roads cracked and buildings suffered structural damage in a recent devastating spell of bad weather.
Belgian-born Hans Vera, 56, has lived in Iceland since 1999 and said there had been a constant shaking of his family’s house.
“You would never be steady, it was always shaking, so there was no way to get sleep,” said Vera, who is now staying at his sister-in-law’s home in a Reykjavik suburb.
“It’s not only the people in Grindavik who are shocked about this situation it’s the whole of Iceland.”
Almost all of the town’s 3,800 inhabitants had been able to find accommodation with family members or friends, and only between 50 and 70 people were staying at evacuation centres, a rescue official said.
Some evacuees were briefly allowed back into the town on Sunday to collect belongings such as documents, medicines or pets, but were not allowed to drive themselves.
“You have to park your car five kilometres from town and there’s 20 cars, huge cars from the rescue team, 20 policemen, all blinking lights, it’s just unreal, it’s like a war zone or something, it’s really strange,” Vera said.
The nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa had also been closed as a precaution.
It comes after a British woman filmed her boyfriend’s house shaking before they were forced to flee amid euption fears.
Caitlin McLean, from Scotland, was visiting her boyfriend Gisli Gunnarsson when a series of earthquakes led to the evacuation of 3,000 people from Grindavik.
Ms McLean, 34, captured the moment the furniture and light fixtures shook violently in Mr Gunnarsson’s home on Friday.
The couple packed only a few essential items to stay with Mr Gunnarsson’s mother in Reykjavik.
The Reykjanes peninsula is a volcanic and seismic hot spot southwest of the capital.
In March 2021, lava fountains erupted spectacularly from a fissure in the ground measuring between 500-750 metres long in the region’s Fagradalsfjall volcanic system.
Aerial footage last week appeared to show a huge crack billowing steam in Grindavik, splitting the Icelandic town in half.
Experts said a nine-mile river of magma running under the peninsula was still active, the BBC reports.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said last Monday that there was a “significant likelihood” of an eruption in coming days on or just off the Reykjanes peninsula near the capital Reykjavik, despite the size and intensity of earthquakes decreasing.
Matthew James Roberts, director of the service and research division at the meteorological office said: “We believe that this intrusion is literally hovering, sitting in equilibrium now just below the earth’s surface.”
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