30 minutes agoGiant volcano bursts on Rykyans Island in Iceland, the largest in recent years
Periskopi(2 years ago)
(2 years ago)A volcano has erupted on the Rajkyan Peninsula of southwest Iceland after weeks of intense earthquakes. About 4,000 people were evacuated earlier from the fishing city of Greendavik, and the nearby geothermal bath Blue Lagoon closed. The blast began in the north of the city at 10:17 local time, according to the Icelandic Met Office. region around [...]
A volcano has erupted on the Rajkyan Peninsula of southwest Iceland after weeks of intense earthquakes.
About 4,000 people were evacuated earlier from the fishing city of Greendavik, and the nearby geothermal bath Blue Lagoon closed. The blast began in the north of the city at 10:17 local time, according to the Icelandic Met Office.
The region around the capital, Reykjavik, has experienced an increase in earthquake activity since late October. Meteorology's office said the explosion was located about 4km (2.5 km) in the northeast of Greendavik and seismic activity was moving towards the city.
Images and videos posted on social media showed lava that erupted from the volcano just an hour after several earthquakes. The blast can be seen by Reykjavik, which is about 42km (26 km) northeast of Gridavik.
An eyewitness there, told the BBC that half the sky in the direction of the city was red from the explosion and the smoke could be seen coming into the air. Police have warned citizens to stay away from the area. The length of the volcano's rift is about 3.5km, with lava flowing at a rate of about 100 to 200 cubic metres per second. According to the Matt Office, it was many times more than the previous bombings on the Reykyan Peninsula in recent years.
A senior police officer at Civil Protection said the blast had occurred soon and seemed to be a big “event”. President Gudni Johannesburg said life protection was the top priority, but that every effort would be made to protect the structures as well. In April 2010, the volcanic Eyjafjallajokull eruption caused the biggest closure of European airspace since World War II as a result of a large cloud of ash. The losses were estimated between 1.5 billion and 2.5 billion euros (1.3-2.2 billion pounds; 1.6-2.7 billion dollars).
