A new volcanic eruption began in Iceland on Saturday evening and is still ongoing but has subsided. It is the fourth eruption since December.

The eruption started in the same volcanic system as the previous ones, in the area between the Icelandic hills Hagafell and Stóra-Skógfell. During the evening, lava flowed across Grindavíkurvegur, the road between Grindavík and the northern part of the Reykjanes peninsula, as well as southwards towards Grindavík, westwards and even eastwards. The fissure is about 3.5 kilometres long.

– The current eruption is the strongest in the current system so far, geophysicist Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson from the University of Iceland told the Icelandic state broadcaster RUV.

The eruption continued until Monday, but since Saturday it has decreased to about 2-5 per cent of its original strength, Guðmundsson said.

In December, the area was hit by a powerful volcanic eruption following strong earthquakes. Víðir Reynisson, head of the Civil Defence, said that Grindavík had been evacuated again, but that the eruption had not yet posed a threat to residents as the lava was flowing along the city’s sea walls. However, around 700 people have been evacuated from the Blue Lagoon tourist attraction.

– The biggest concern at the moment is the infrastructure, says Reynisson.

Seismic activity on the Reykjanes Peninsula has increased in recent days, which is interpreted as an increased risk of a new volcanic eruption.

Iceland was hit by strong earthquakes in late 2023, which triggered a volcanic eruption. Since then, several eruptions have occurred, causing widespread evacuations, particularly in Grindavík and at the popular Blue Lagoon spa. The most recent eruption occurred in November, when both residents and tourists had to leave the area. Despite warnings from the authorities, some tourists went right up to the lava flows to photograph them.

Four small earthquakes

Four small earthquakes were recorded on Tuesday morning and the Icelandic Meteorological Office believes this could be a sign of an imminent eruption.

– The situation is that we are seeing clear signs of increased seismic activity, especially in the last week. Both at the magma intrusion site, but we are also seeing an increase in seismic activity both northwest and northeast of Grindavík. This has been happening over the past two to three days, Steinunn Helgadóttir, a natural disaster specialist at the Icelandic Meteorological Authority, told Icelandic state broadcaster RUV.

If a new eruption occurs, the warning time may be short. In previous eruptions, it took between 30 and 40 minutes from the first signs to the start of the eruption.

– We expect something similar for this eruption, she says.