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A volcano on Iceland ’s Reykjanes Peninsula has resumed erupting after a four - calendar week hiatus , with new fissures opening near the town of Grindavík , the Icelandic Met Office ( IMO ) announced Sunday ( Jan. 14 ) .
The eructation followed an intense serial of earthquakes that began around 3:00 a.m. local time in the Sundhnúksgígar area and migrated sou’west toward Grindavík . The seismic swarm get a lava - be sick scissure to open around 8 a.m. to the southeast of the Hagafell lot , spreading to within just 3,000 feet ( 900 meters ) of the town .
Aerial footage shows lava spilling out of the erupted volcano.
Around twelve noon , a new igneous cranny opened just northward of Grindavík . " Lava flows extrude from this chap have now entered the townspeople , " IMO example write in astatement .
Seismicity and ground deformation datum betoken a magma dyke running down the Reykjanes Peninsula has reached beneath Grindavík . Magma flux into the dike may have " reactivate " live faults and fractures in Earth ’s incrustation , and in all probability opened brand new fissure , the statement said .
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On Jan. 14, another eruption happened in the north of Grindavik in the Reykjanes Peninsula.
More crack could open in the coming twenty-four hours as magma carry on to give the dam , expert told theIceland Monitor .
Þorvaldur Þórðarson , a professor of volcanology and petrology at the Icelandic University , told the Iceland Monitor that igneous activity has switch from the upper fissure to creep nearer to Grindavík , forecast two possible scenarios .
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Lava is seen edging closer to the outskirts of Grindavík on Jan. 14.
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" One [ scenario ] is that if the shift key is made , then the activity will go on in the depleted fissure , " he said . If this is the case , and the eruption continues , lava " will continue to fall towards the town . " The other scenario , which is even worse , is that this is an increase to what is happening in the upper fissure , " he tell . " This increases the clap . "
Explosions of hot lava erupted from a fissure that appeared close to the town of Grindavík.
It ’s looking likely that magma will drive into the dike and lead it further down the peninsula , Þórðarson tell . " It seems to me that the fissure is always get long , " he say . " The place has unluckily become very bleak for Grindavík . "
Below are images of the eruption so far , demonstrate lava flows creeping towards evacuated house in Grindavík .
The latest eruptions are part of an uptick in volcanic activity in the region that began in 2021.
Lava flows from the fissures has slowed significantly since the eruption began.
Seismic activity on the morning of Jan. 14 forced residents to evacuate.
