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A flaming flow of lava coursing near Iceland ’s Blue Lagoon has been catch in a sensational raw satellite picture secrete byNASAon Wednesday ( Nov. 27 ) .
The photos , film by NASA ’s Landsat 9 planet , show lava flowing from a fissure in the Sundhnúkur volcanic crater words on Iceland ’s Reykjanes Peninsula . Infrared light from the irruption , captured by the Suomi NPP orbiter , come out brighter than the light from Iceland ’s nearby uppercase , Reykjavík .
The fissure of lava coursing over Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula.
The eruption that created the fissure begin on November 20 , and was foretell by a swarm of earthquakes . This is the seventh eruption to occur in the geologically combat-ready realm in less than a yr , grant to NASA .
" The lava flowed east and west from the fissure , rather than toward the town of Grindavík , " NASA ’s Earth Observatory , which publish the image , tell in a statement . " The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service cover that the later event squeeze the elimination of some of the town ’s resident and the Blue Lagoon stamping ground , a geothermic spa . A tongue of lava fall over the car park of the watering hole , envelop a pocket-sized military service building located there . "
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The fissure glows brighter than nearby Reykjavík in this infrared image taken by NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite.
The eruption , which come from a 1.8 mile - long ( 2.9 km ) fissure in the ground near Stóra Skógfell acme , led to the voidance of the celebrated Blue Lagoon hangout and Grindavík ’s 3,800 residents .
Though Iceland is known for its dramatic lava flows , the absolute majority of its volcanic activeness over the retiring 800 years has occurred in the island ’s sparsely - populated north and due east part . But this irruption emerge in westerly Iceland , which admit Reykjavik , and is much more thickly populated .
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Although this is case for some concern , West Iceland ’s vent is very unlikely to erupt violently as the vent is constitute by rift activity — a operation where the earth is tugged apart by the diverging plateful of the Mid - Atlantic Ridge .
This process causes lava to seep out easy from the Earth ’s cape , rather of erupting violently from a central vent .
" As of November 26 , 2024 , the Blue Lagoon was shut to the populace , but lava movement toward the watering hole had slacken , " NASA write . The eruption is still ongoing , but has slow up since first appearing , according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office .