Eruption begins: A Civil Defence state of danger has been declared

• Náttúruvá á pólsku
• 10. júlí 2023

After days of quakes, an eruption has begun. An eruption has started on the Reykjanes Peninsula.

Magma plumes are now rising from a 900-metre-long fissure, on the side of Litli-Hrútur.

Rúv will update with the latest news. 

Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson, professor of geophysics, said originally that the eruption is small, at least so far. However, after flying over the site with the Coast Guard, he revised his view.

"In short, it's quite a bit more effervescent than the other two, [at least] in the beginning. It grew significantly in the first hour. The fissure is about 900 meters long, which is much longer than in the other eruptions. It is quite active, and the lava has grown to about one and a half kilometers in total. Roughly speaking, this first eruption appears to be at least ten times larger than the initial eruption and two, three, four times larger than what happened last year. There's a lot more gas coming off this and it's spreading a lot faster. It's a much bigger event."

According to information from Isavia, who operate Keflavík International Airport, the eruption has no effect on flights, neither domestic nor international. An exception to this is that flights are prohibited within a three-mile radius around volcanic eruptions, except for scientists and emergency responders.

Physicist Nahel Belgherze has published on Twitter an impressive video from Alessandro, which includes the first drone images of the eruption.

• Síðast uppfært: 10. júlí 2023