The volcano on Mount Fagradals, in southwestern Iceland, had been inactive for 6,000 years. But Friday night, then weeks of earthquakes in the area, the volcano came to life.
The eruption is the first to experience the Reykjanes Peninsula, where the volcano is located, in 781 years.
The video of the eruption shows the bright lava gushing from the earth, illuminating an otherwise raw dark night. The lava glow could be seen up to 20 miles away from Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland, according to the Associated Press and photos of the glow.
Icelandic police tweeted on Friday that people had to stay inside and keep the windows closed to prevent it. gas pollution. When volcanoes erupt, the lava releases several potentially dangerous gases, including sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen fluoride, according to the state environmental protection agency.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said on Saturday morning that, however, pollution from this eruption is not expected to “cause inconvenience to people except near the source of the eruption”.
On its website, the office said “no volcanic ash is detected, but a high level of volcanic gas has been measured near the eruption site.” Scientists and officials are closely monitoring emissions.
On Saturday morning, the Icelandic Meteorological Office reported that volcanic activity had “decreased slightly” since Friday evening. Scientists in the department have not cited much concern for people in the area, as the lava area is less than 1 square mile. According to the office, the eruptive fissures (cracks from the earth’s surface from which lava comes out) are approximately 500 to 700 meters long.
“Lava sources are small and lava flows are currently a very local hazard,” he posted in the office.
The Scientific Council for Civil Protection said Saturday morning that they do not believe the eruption is a threat to the structures.
A small earthquake occurred a few hours before the volcano erupted.
Southwest Iceland has been hit with a “swarm” of thousands of earthquakes since February 24th. Dozens of them had a magnitude of 3 or higher, which means they could be heard. On Thursday, just a day before the eruption, the IMO reported that there had been one 400 earthquakes in a span of about seven hours. Despite the extent, it was “a little less” seismic activity compared to other mornings where there have been approximately 1,000 earthquakes.