© Reuters. A volcanic eruption takes place, close to Grindavik, Iceland, March 16, 2024, on this handout image obtained by Reuters. Public Safety Division of Icelandic Police/Handout by way of REUTERS
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COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – A volcano in Iceland that erupted on Saturday for the fourth time since December was nonetheless spewing smoke and shiny orange lava into the air early on Monday though infrastructure and a close-by fishing city have been secure for now, authorities stated.
The eruption was the seventh on the Reykjanes peninsula close to Iceland’s capital Reykjavik since 2021 when geological programs that had lain dormant for round 800 years once more turned lively.
Man-made boundaries have been profitable in steering the lava away from infrastructure together with the Svartsengi geothermal energy plant and Grindavik, a fishing city of some 4,000 residents.
Footage from public broadcaster RUV confirmed lava flowing a number of hundred metres from the city which was evacuated throughout an eruption in November and once more throughout one other one in February.
“The defences at Grindavik proved their worth … they’ve guided the lava move within the meant path,” native utility HS Orka stated, including that infrastructure operating to the Svartsengi energy plant was intact.
Magma had been accumulating underground for the reason that final eruption in February, prompting authorities to warn of an imminent eruption.
The warning time late on Saturday was solely quarter-hour earlier than fountains of molten rock started hovering from a 3km-long (1.9 mile) fissure, roughly the identical dimension and on the identical place because the eruption in February.
Lava flows continued at a gentle tempo on Monday, and it was too early to undertaking when it could finish, Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, professor of geophysics on the College of Iceland, advised RUV.
“It was surprisingly secure in a single day and positively majestic, however continues to be solely between 2-5% of what it was at the start,” he stated.
The February eruption lasted lower than two days whereas volcanic exercise continued for six months at a close-by system in 2021.