Volcano near Iceland’s main airport erupts again after pause

Reykjavik, Aug. 4 (BNA) A volcano in southwest Iceland on Wednesday began erupting – just eight months after its last eruption officially ended, the country’s meteorological authorities said.

The Icelandic meteorological office urged people not to approach the Vajradalsjal volcano, which is located 32 km southwest of the capital Reykjavik.

The eruption is in an uninhabited valley not far from Keflavik Airport, the hub for international air traffic in Iceland. The Associated Press reported that the airport remained open and no flights were disrupted.

A live video feed from the site showed magma spewing from a narrow fissure about 100 to 200 meters (109 to 218 yards) long over a lava field from last year’s eruption, the first on the Reykjanes Peninsula in nearly 800 years.

Scientists expected a volcanic eruption somewhere in the peninsula after a series of earthquakes over the past week indicated volcanic activity near the Earth’s crust.

Volcanologist Magnus Tommy Gudmundsson told The Associated Press that the eruption appeared to be small.

“But we don’t know where things are in the process,” he said, as he boarded a helicopter for a first look.

A 2021 eruption in the same area produced spectacular lava flows for several months. Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to witness the splendid spectacle.

Iceland, located atop a volcanic hotspot in the North Atlantic, averages eruptions every four to five years.

The most recent eruption was the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in 2010, which sent clouds of ash and dust into the atmosphere, disrupting air travel for days between Europe and North America over concerns that the ash could damage jet engines. More than 100,000 flights have been grounded, causing millions of passengers to be stranded.

Shares in the main Icelandic airline, Iceland, rose 6% when news of the eruption broke on Wednesday. Investors and residents alike were horrified by the prospect of a much larger volcanic eruption in a populated area of ​​the peninsula.

MI