REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) – A long dormant volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland came to life on Friday night and spilled lava on both sides of the first volcanic eruption in the area. almost 800 years.
The first aerial images, posted on the Iceland Meteorological Office’s Facebook page, showed a relatively small eruption so far, with two streams of lava flowing in opposite directions. The glow of the lava could be seen from the outskirts of the Icelandic capital, Reykjavík, which is about 32 kilometers (20 miles) away.
The Department of Emergency Management said it did not anticipate evacuations because the volcano is in a remote valley, about 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the nearest road.
The Fagradals mountain volcano had been dormant for 6,000 years and the Reykjanes peninsula had not seen any eruption of any volcano in 781 years.
There had recently been signs of a possible eruption, with earthquakes occurring daily for the past three weeks. But volcanologists were still surprised because seismic activity had calmed down before the eruption.