ICELAND volcano erupted once again and urged residents to evacuate just weeks after they were allowed to return to their homes.
Iceland is on high alert since early hours of Sunday morning as volcano spewed bursts of lava and sent huge plumes of smoke into the sky.
The eruption started near the fishing town of Grindavik which was evacuated just two months earlier.
“A crack has opened up on both sides of the dikes that have begun to be built north of Grindavik,” the met office wrote.
The volcano started spewing bursts of lava at 3am and it is not clear which direction the lava is flowing, reported Iceland‘s public broadcaster RUV.
The evacuation order is expected to last three weeks which will cause a lot of disruption as the town plays home to a popular tourist attraction Blue Lagoon.
Authorities will be able to return to retrieve residents’ belongings in “exceptional circumstances”.
The Public Safety Department of the National Police reported that last night they recorded 200 earthquakes.
The dramatic footage of the disaster appears to show lava slowly flowing towards the fishing town itself.
The most recent eruption seems to have breached the barriers of earth and rock that Iceland attempted to build in the last few weeks to keep lava from reaching Grindavik.
Iceland’s prime minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir has admitted that today’s eruption was “frightening.”
She told local media: “The Civil Defense has of course been very keen to observe from day to day.
“Once again, I want to say that it was the right decision to evacuate tonight, even though we expected it wouldn’t happen until tomorrow.
“Of course, we have all eyes on this area to ensure the safety of the residents.
“However, it is quite clear that this is a huge burden for the townspeople. Naturally, the pressure is starting to take its toll on people.
“As the situation is now, we are seeing that the lava is flowing towards Grindavík.”
“The ramparts, however, may be useful even if the southern part of the fissure extends into them. We are monitoring the situation from minute to minute.”
Iceland is seen as a seismic and volcanic hot spot as the two plates – Eurasian and North American – move in opposite directions.
Reykjanes peninsula is home to 32 active volcanoes which were dormant for 800 years until 2021.
Since then, Iceland saw five eruptions, with the biggest one in December 2023.
