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A volcanoerupting on the Reykjanes peninsulain Iceland has open a 2.5 - mile - foresightful ( 4 km ) chap that appear to have stabilized and is spewing a " curtain " of lava , expert say .
The eruption begin on Monday ( Dec. 18 ) at 10:17 p.m. local time ( 5:17 p.m. EST Eastern Time ) following an minute - prospicient earthquake cloud . The northerly ending of the crevice is locate just east of Stóra - Skógfell and its southerly tip extends to a peak just east of Sundhnúk , which model less than 2 miles away from Grindavík , the Icelandic Met Office ( IMO ) said in a translatedstatementon Tuesday ( Dec. 19 ) .
Photo taken directly to the south of the fissure on board the helicopter of the Norwegian Coast Guard. Grindavík in the distance.
" The power of the eruption that started about four hours ago seems to be diminish , " IMO representatives wrote in the statement . " The fact that the activity is already reducing is not an reading of how long the bam will last , but rather that the bam is touch equilibrium . This trend has been seen at the beginning of all the irruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula in recent age . "
The eruption is occurring all along the fissure , with the high floor of activity recorded around the shopping centre of the crack , in an area labeled " zone 3 " and colored Orange River on a risk assessment map first print on Dec. 8 .
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An Icelandic hazard assessment map posted on Dec. 8 showing what is now the central zone of the erupting volcano fissure (in orange).
Recorded seismic activity was proceed southward in the other minute of Tuesday , consort to the statement , indicating the eruption may creep into the little fishing town of Grindavík , whichwas evacuated on Nov. 10 .
" The metrical bodily function is just east of the magma burrow that formed on Nov. 10 , " representatives wrote at 2:50 a.m. local time ( 9:50 p.m. EST ) . " This ontogeny of the seismic natural process , together with mensuration from GPS devices , is an denotation that the magma is moving southwest and the eruption could expand in the counselling of Grindavík . "
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David Pyle , a professor of Earth sciences at the University of Oxford in the U.K. , say the earthquakes have now died down , suggest the fissure has stabilized with a " curtain " of magma erupting from it .
" The eruption rate is likely to be in the region of a few hundred cubic cadence of lava per second — enough to fill an Olympic swim syndicate in about 20 seconds , " Pyle told Live Science in an email . " The length of the chap may be an indication of how much magma had been capable to accumulate in the crust over the preceding few week . "
It ’s probable the eruption will continue for some days , Pyle said .
The activity on the Reykjanes peninsula isfollowing a acknowledge patternthat will likely touch off more eruptions in the coming month and years . " We are still pick up what the ' verge ' are between tiresome magma accretion in the crust and rapid episodes of dyke formation , and likely clap , " Pyle said .
IMO representative said in the statement that Iceland ’s National Weather Service will carry on to monitor the development of the natural process at the cranny and maintains verbatim striking with responders and civic defense lawyers in the arena .
