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Agence France-Presse

Lava flowing from a volcano that erupted on Sunday near the Icelandic fishing port of Grindavík has engulfed homes just hours after villagers were evacuated to safety, authorities said.
It was the North Atlantic nation’s fifth volcanic eruption in under three years.
The most recent occurred just weeks ago on December 18 in the same region, southwest of the capital Reykjavik.
At least three houses were engulfed in fire as glowing orange lava flowed into the edge of the town of Grindavík, live images broadcast by public television RUV showed.

“In a little village like this one, we’re like a family, we all know each other as family – it’s tragic seeing this,” local resident Sveinn Ari Gudjonsson said.
“It’s unreal, it’s like watching a film,” added the 55-year-old, who works in the fishing industry.
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Most of the 4,000-strong population of Grindavík had been evacuated as a precaution on November 11 after scientists said a magma dyke was shifting beneath them.
At the time, a series of small earthquakes – sometimes hundreds per day – had created large cracks in roads, homes and buildings.
On Sunday, a first eruption began at 8am when a crack opened in the ground around 450 metres from the town.
The Icelandic Metereological Office (IMO) said that fissure measured around 900 metres long, and crossed over the main road to Grindavík.
A second fissure then opened around midday on the edge of town, with that lava engulfing the homes. It measured around 100 meters by evening, IMO said.
Jets of orange lava and plumes of smoke spewed into the sky from the two cracks throughout the day.

The eruption knocked out electricity and hot and cold water in Grindavík, authorities said, but airline flights were not affected.
At a press conference, Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir called Sunday a “black day today for Grindavík and … for all of Iceland. But the sun will come up again”.
The head of Iceland’s Civil Protection and Emergency Management, Vidir Reynisson, said the eruption was “the most serious threat” posed by a volcanic eruption in Iceland since January 1973.
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Back then, a fissure erupted just 150 metres from the town centre on Heimaey in the Vestmann Islands, surprising locals at dawn.
A third of homes were destroyed and the 5,300 residents were evacuated. One person died.
In a rare address to the nation, Iceland’s President Gudni Johannesson said he “hoped the situation would calm down, but anything can happen”.




Amid the uncertainty facing the town, he urged Icelanders to “stand together and have compassion for those who cannot be in their homes.”
Shortly after the December 18 eruption, Grindavík residents were allowed to return for brief periods.
They were authorised to regain their homes permanently on December 23 but only a few dozen chose to do so.
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Late on Saturday, authorities had ordered an emergency evacuation to be completed by Monday due to growing seismic activity and its impact on the large cracks already present in the town.
On Wednesday, a 51-year-old Icelandic workman who was repairing a crack in a residential garden disappeared when the ground suddenly gave way beneath him.
He fell more than 30 metres. The intensive search to find him was called off on Friday because the area was too dangerous.

Authorities accelerated the evacuation order overnight when seismic activity intensified.
Officials are keeping a close eye on the nearby Svartsengi geothermal plant, which provides electricity and water to the 30,000 residents of the Reykjanes peninsula.
Workmen have been building a wall to protect the facility since November.
Until March 2021, the Reykjanes peninsula had not experienced an eruption for eight centuries.
Fresh eruptions occurred in August 2022, and July and December 2023, leading vulcanologists to say it was probably the start of a new era of activity in the region.
Four days after the December 18 eruption, authorities said volcanic activity had stopped but they could not declare the eruption over because there was still a possibility of underground lava flow.
Iceland is home to 33 active volcano systems, the highest number in Europe.
It straddles the mid-Atlantic Ridge, a crack in the ocean floor separating the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.


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Volcanoes

Volcano erupts in Iceland, lava reaches town and engulfs homes

The volcano spewing lava and smoke as it erupts in Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland. Photo: Iceland Civil Protection via Reuters

Lava explosions near residential buildings in the southwestern Icelandic town of Grindavík. Photo: AFP

Billowing smoke and flowing lava. Photo: Icelandic Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management via AFP

People watch from the north as the volcano erupts near Grindavik, Iceland. Photo: AP

Iceland volcano erupts after weeks of earthquakes

A volcano spews lava and smoke as it erupts in Grindavik, Iceland. Photo: Civil Protection of Iceland via Reuters

A helicopter near the volcanic eruption. Photo: Icelandic Coast Guard via EPA-EFE

A crack in a road in Grindavik, Iceland, which was evacuated in November due to volcanic activity. File photo: Reuters

In Indonesia, deaths of 23 hikers at Mount Marapi spark accusations of negligence

Motorists in West Sumatra watch from a distance as Mount Marapi erupts on December 4. Photo: AP

A hiker is rescued following Mount Marapi’s eruption. Some 75 hikers and visitors were at the volcano when it erupted on December 3. Photo: Reuters

Rescuers around the body of a hiker killed in the Mount Marapi eruption. Photo: EPA-EFE

A farmer tends to his rice field as Mount Marapi spews volcanic material into the air. Photo: AP

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Tita Cahyani, a 25-year-old hiker who survived in Mount Marapi volcano eruption, rests while receiving treatment at a regional hospital. Photo: Reuters

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Cracks emerge on a road in Grindavik, Iceland, on Sunday. Photo: via Reuters 

Lava spurts and flows after the eruption of a volcano in Iceland in July 12. Photo: Handout via Reuters

Blue Lagoon Iceland spa guests flee in ‘panic’, state of emergency declared, as earthquakes raise fears of volcanic eruption

A tourist at the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa in Iceland. The spa has temporarily closed after a series of earthquakes put Iceland’s southwestern corner on volcano alert. Photo: AP

Magma from the erupting Fagradalsfjall volcano produces a red shimmer behind the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa in southwest Iceland in 2021. A swarm of earthquakes had guests at one of the country’s top tourist attractions fleeing in panic this week amid fear another volcano nearby would erupt. Photo: AFP

Bathers enjoy the warm water of the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, one of Iceland’s top tourist attractions. Photo: AP

Guests are wreathed in steam rising from the water at the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa in Iceland. Photo: AP

A towering ash plume rises from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano during its eruption in 2010, which closed airspace across Europe and caused major flight disruption. Photo: Getty Images

A tourist bathes in the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa. Guests shaken awake by a magnitude 4.8 earthquake fled the spa in panic this week amid fears a string of recent tremors signalled a nearby volcano could erupt. Photo: AP

News

World

Europe

Volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted for the second time in less than a month
It sent lava snaking toward the nearby community of Grindavík and set homes on fire


For the second time in four weeks, a volcano has erupted in Iceland, with lava this time reaching a coastal town and setting houses on fire.


Iceland

Natural disasters

Volcano erupts in Iceland, lava reaches town and engulfs homes

Volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted for the second time in less than a month It sent lava snaking toward the nearby community of Grindavík and set homes on fire

Volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted for the second time in less than a month

It sent lava snaking toward the nearby community of Grindavík and set homes on fire