- Title: TIMELINE: Iceland sees string of volcanic eruptions in the last four months
- Date: 19th March 2024
- Summary: The power of the Icelandic volcano that erupted late on Monday December 18 was decreasing on December 19, the country's meteorological office said in a statement. Wouter, a tourist from the Netherlands, who was visiting Iceland said he rushed out to have a look as soon as he heard about the eruption from his location, north of the fishing town of Grindavik which was evacuated last month. He said this was "a once in a lifetime" experience. NORTH OF GRINDAVIK, ICELAND (FILE - DECEMBER 19, 2023) (REUTERS) TOURISTS FROM NETHERLANDS SPEAKING AND LOOKING ON VOLCANO ERUPTING (MUTE) (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOURIST FROM NETHERLANDS, WOUTER (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING: "Our B&B hostess, they sent us a message that the volcano erupted. So, of course, we went, come here and go see, because what? It's a once in a lifetime for us. So we don't want to miss that." Lava spewing from a volcano in Iceland appeared to be flowing away from the only nearby town and the intensity of the eruption was dropping, offering hope that homes would be safe even though seismic activity could last months, officials said on December 19. SYLINGARFELL, ICELAND (FILE - DECEMBER 19, 2023) (REUTERS) (MUTE) VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF SNOW-COVERED GROUND AROUND THE SITE OF THE ERUPTION WITH LAVA SPEWING INTO THE AIR The lava from a volcano in Iceland continued to spew upwards on the night of December 19, a day after it started on the Reykjanes peninsula, southwest of the country but had lost some of its power, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said in a statement. SYLINGARFELL, ICELAND (FILE - DECEMBER 19, 2023) (REUTERS) (MUTE) VARIOUS OF LAVA SPEWING FROM THE ERUPTION SITE VARIOUS OF EMERGENCY WORKERS NEAR THE ERUPTION SITE
- Embargoed: 2nd April 2024 15:01
- Keywords: Eruption Grindavik Iceland Lava Natural disaster Reykjavik Volcano
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: Iceland
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Europe,Earthquakes/Volcanoes/Tsunami
- Reuters ID: LVA005901919032024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS FOOTAGE THAT WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula has seen a string of volcanic eruptions since 2021 when geological systems dormant for around 800 years became active again.
Experts say the region, just south of the capital Reykjavik and home to 30,000 people, could experience so-called fissure eruptions repeatedly for several centuries.
The latest eruption took place between the Hagafell and Stora-Skogfell peaks on March 16, 2024, in the same area as the last one the previous month, with smoke, molten rock and bright orange lava spewing from an estimated 3 km (2 mile) fissure.
Residents from the nearby fishing town of Grindavik who had returned from the previous evacuation left again immediately. The Blue Lagoon luxury geothermal spa again shut its doors.
Eruption on February 8, 2024, lasted roughly a day, with lava spewing 80 meters (260 feet) high from a 3 km crack.
Lava flows damaged pipelines after which hot water supply used to warm homes was cut off during freezing winter temperatures. The Blue Lagoon closed after lava covered a road.
A two-day eruption happened on January 14, 2023, and the lava flow reached the outskirts of Grindavik, home to nearly 4,000 inhabitants, setting three houses alight.
An eruption in the Svartsengi volcanic system near Grindavik on December 18, 2023, sent lava and smoke across a wide area after weeks of intense earthquake activity. A roughly 4 km (2.5 mile) long crack in the ground stretched towards Grindavik.
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