Residents and tourists evacuated after volcano erupts in Iceland
The magma flow began at about 6.30am local time accompanied by an intense earthquake storm similar to previous eruptions, Iceland's Met Office says.
Tuesday 1 April 2025 16:11, UK
A volcano has erupted in Iceland, triggering the evacuation of residents and tourists.
Flames and smoke rose through the air as a fissure opened in the ground near the fishing town of Grindavik, southwest of the capital, Reykjavik.
Forty homes have been evacuated, national broadcaster RUV reported.
People at the Blue Lagoon luxury spa were also asked to head for safety.
The magma flow began at about 6.30am local time (7.30am UK time) on Tuesday accompanied by an intense earthquake storm similar to previous eruptions, Iceland's Met Office said.
The fissure is about 500 metres long and has penetrated the "protective barrier north of Grindavik", it added.
The crack in the ground "continues to grow and it cannot be ruled out that it may continue to open further south", meteorologists said.
Rikke Pedersen, head of the Nordic Volcanological Center, described it as a "very limited eruption so far".
He said it was similar in size to one in January 2024, which spewed lava into Grindavik.
Iceland sits astride the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates are pulling apart.
The North Atlantic island nation has now experienced 11 eruptions south of Reykjavik since 2021, when dormant geological systems reactivated after 800 years.
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So far, the eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula have not directly affected Reykjavik.
Nor have they caused a significant dispersal of ash into the stratosphere, meaning air traffic disruption has been avoided.
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While some residents have returned following previous lava flows, most houses have been empty for more than a year.
Fissure eruptions - characterised by lava flowing from long cracks in the earth's crust rather than through a single volcanic opening - could repeat themselves for decades or even centuries, Icelandic experts have predicted.
The North Atlantic island, which has a population of almost 400,000 people, attracts thousands of tourists every year who explore its rugged nature including geysers, hot springs and volcanoes.