While volcanologists say the eruption remains "low intensity" for now, initial estimates indicate that its flow is significantly more powerful than the two previous eruptions in 2021 and 2022 on the Reykjanes peninsula.
"When the wind is coming in this direction, it's not so hot... it's warm like a campfire," said Niall Lynch, a 23-year-old Irish guide AFP met in front of the fresh lava flows next to the small peak of Litli Hrutur.
But on the other side of the fissure, the gas released by the eruption makes the area "unbearably hot".
"It's much too hot to stay there for any extended amount of time. I mean it's like 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit)," he added.
The uninhabited area 30 kilometres southwest of the capital had been dormant for eight centuries but has experienced a resurgence of volcanic activity in the last two years.
The eruptive faults reached a total size of around 900 metres overnight, compared with 200 to 300 metres initially, according to the latest update from the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) Tuesday.
"When you look in the centre of the lava flow, it's a lot brighter than I was expecting it to be," Lynch said.
"I was thinking a lot more like the darker colours of blacks and browns, like the rock when it starts to solidify. But right in the centre it's pure orange like the sun. It's amazing."
"Dangerously high" levels of volcanic gases, particularly sulphur dioxide, will accumulate close to the eruption, warned the IMO, which advised tourists not to visit the area.
Access to the site was closed on Monday evening.
During the six months of the March 2021 eruption, and the three weeks of the August 2022 eruption, hundreds of thousands of visitors came to admire the hypnotic spectacle of lava on the outskirts of Mount Fagradallsfjall and the Meradalir and Geldingadalir valleys.
Unlike explosive eruptions that spew out thousands of tonnes of dust, such as the famous Eyjafjallajokull eruption that paralysed air traffic in Europe in 2010, so-called "effusive" eruptions have little impact, apart from lava flows and locally toxic gas spikes.
- Big barbecue -
The handful of visitors who managed to reach the site before it was closed describe it as the experience of a lifetime.
From the nearest road, you have to traverse a challenging path, the last three winding kilometres of which are through moss and rocks embedded in the soil.
When the lava finally comes into view, with the tiny Litli Hrutur ("Little Ram" in Icelandic) mountain on the left, the feeling is "indescribable", said Jessica Poteet, a 41-year-old American living in Iceland.
"When you cross the hill for the first time, especially when it's the first day, and you see the fountains of lava and you hear the crackling of the solidified rock, it's just unbelievable," she added.
Gudmundur Hauksson, a 26-year-old Icelandic who was also among the first there, said "it's really nice... to come out and connect with the Earth and nature in this fashion."
The powerful smell of volcanic gases and flowing lava is reminiscent of "a big barbecue", according to some visitors.
The air is also thick with the smoke of burning moss, which ignites under the molten liquid.
Volcanologist Thorvaldur Thordarson of the University of Iceland said "we have no idea" how long the natural spectacle will last.
"It could last for a few days, it could last for a month, it could last for six months like the 2021 eruption or it could even last longer than that."
Volcano erupts near Icelandic capital
Reykjavik (AFP) July 10, 2023 -
A volcano erupted near Iceland's capital on Monday, the country's meteorological office said, marking the third time in two years that lava has gushed out in the area.
Local media footage shows a massive cloud of smoke rising from the ground as well as a substantial flow of lava at the site around 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Reykjavik.
According to an AFP reporter, the smoke can be seen from the road connecting the capital to the international airport, with cars pulled over and people taking pictures.
"The eruption is taking place in a small depression just north of Litli Hrutur ('Little Ram' in Icelandic) from which smoke is escaping in a north-westerly direction," the meteorological office said.
"There are three fissures with lava basically running in all directions," Thorvaldur Thordarson, Professor in Volcanology at University of Iceland, told AFP.
He added that the fissures are in total around 200 to 300 meters long and "it is a low intensity, effusive eruption."
This means "it's not causing widespread threats due to explosive activity" but "if the eruption continues for long enough it could be a threat to infrastructure."
Thousands of small earthquakes were recorded in the area in the week leading up to the eruption, signalling that the magma below the ground was moving and an eruption was imminent.
The Icelandic authorities advised against going to the site, located in difficult terrain without road connection, before they have assessed the situation.
The magma broke through the ground at around 1640 GMT, just a few kilometres from two previous eruptions in the last two years.
The first was on March 19, 2021 in the Geldingadalur valley and lasted six months, while the second occurred on August 3, 2022 in the Meradalir valley, lasting three weeks.
Prior to the 2021 eruption, the region had remained dormant for eight centuries, but volcanologists believe the new cycle of increased activity could last several years.
The effusive eruptions that have occurred in this area so far have not been very dangerous, nor have they had any impact on air traffic.
The 2021 and 2022 eruptions attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors hoping to catch a rare glimpse of an active volcano.
Thordarson said the eruption could last anywhere from "a few days" to more than half a year like in 2021, or even longer.
- Land of fire and ice -
Iceland has 33 volcanic systems currently considered active, the highest number in Europe. It has an eruption every five years on average.
The North Atlantic island straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a crack in the ocean floor separating the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.
In April 2010, some 100,000 flights were cancelled, leaving more than 10 million travellers stranded, following the massive eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano.
Other volcanoes, such as Askja in the uninhabited highlands of central Iceland, have recently shown signs of activity.
One of the country's most dangerous volcanoes is Katla, near the south coast. It last erupted in 1918, with an unusually long pause suggesting an imminent reawakening.
The 1783 eruption of the Laki volcanic fissure in the south of the island is considered by some experts to be the most devastating in Iceland's history, causing its biggest environmental and socio-economic catastrophe.
Between 50 to 80 percent of Iceland's livestock was killed, leading to a famine that left a quarter of the country's population dead.
The meteorological impact of the eruption also had repercussions for several years, with some experts suggesting it may have played a part in triggering the French Revolution.
Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
