GRINDAVIK, Iceland – A volcano located in southwestern Iceland erupted for the third time since December on Thursday, sending lava shooting up to 260 feet into the air and forcing the evacuation of the popular tourist destination Blue Lagoon.
According to the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO), intense seismic activity began to shake the area around Mount Sýlingarfell about 5:30 a.m. local time, and the eruption began about 30 minutes later.
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Dramatic images of the eruption shared by the Icelandic Coast Guard showed rivers of lava flowing from a fissure that had opened up near the same area where the first eruption began in December.
That fissure, officials said, was just under 2 miles long and stretched from Mount Sundhnúkur to the eastern areas of Mount Stóra-Skógfell, according to the IMO.
The eruption is about 2.5 miles northeast of the seaside town of Grindavík, which had been evacuated since before the first eruption last year when earthquake activity dramatically began to increase, and large cracks began to open up across local roads.
In January, an eruption sent lava to the outskirts of Grindavík and even destroyed some structures there.
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It doesn’t appear at this time that the eruption would affect Grindavík directly. However, national public service broadcaster RÚV said lava was flowing over pipes that supply hot water to the area.
“Our lava simulation models say it’s less than three hours, if we don’t manage to do anything, before the lava flow reaches the hot water seed that feeds the entire South Peninsula,” Víðir Reynisson, director of the civil protection department, had told RÚV.
RÚV said construction of emergency defenses is now underway.
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The eruption of the volcano also led to the closure and evacuation of the Blue Lagoon.
“Due to a volcanic eruption that commenced on the morning of February 8, we took the precautionary measure of evacuating and temporarily closing all our operational units,” the company said on its website.
Flights to and from Keflavík International Airport, the country’s main international airport, as well as regional airports in the area, have so far not been impacted by the eruption, according to Isavia.