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A volcano has erupted in Iceland after weeks of intense earthquake activity, the country’s meteorological office said.
An evacuation had already taken place in recent days, moving nearly 4,000 people out of the fishing town of Grindavik in the country’s southwest, as fears grew of an eruption from the Reykjanes peninsula.
There have been several eruptions in unpopulated areas in the peninsula in recent years, but the current outbreak was believed to pose an immediate risk to the town, authorities have said.
The nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa has also been closed as a precaution.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said on its website on Monday: “Warning: Eruption has started north of Grindavik by
Hagafell.”
Images and livestreams by local news outlet RUV show lava spewing from fissures in the ground.
A coastguard helicopter will be in the air shortly to confirm the exact location and size of the eruption, the Met Office said.
The international airport in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, which is located nearby, remained open.
“At the moment, there are no disruptions to arrivals or departures at Keflavík Airport,” it said on its website.
Iceland was put on high alert for a volcano eruption in November when a state of emergency was declared.
The Reykjanes peninsula, a volcanic and seismic hot-spot around 30 miles southwest of Reykjavik, had been shaken by hundreds of small earthquakes every day for more than two weeks.
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In November, Icelandic authorities were working on a plan to protect the evacuated town of Grindavik from a volcanic eruption.
Scientists believed the most likely site for magma to break through the surface was a short distance from the town, and it could flow towards houses.
But Almannavarnir, the Icelandic civil defence, said earth walls would be built to divert a river of molten lava away from the town.
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