LIVE – Volcano in Iceland: eruption affects the town of Grindavik, houses on fire

Following the announcement of a new eruption, Icelandic civil protection decided to raise the risk level in the area to “urgent”.

On the social network X, the Icelandic president shared an aerial view of the eruption, ensuring that “measures were being taken to protect infrastructure”.

In its latest weather report, the IMO said the current eruption had “remained at the same strength for about an hour.” With the new fissure from which lava is flowing that has reached Grindavik, “existing faults and fractures have been reactivated and new fractures have probably formed” in the city, evacuated overnight.

Following the new eruption in Iceland, President Gudni Johannesson is due to speak at 8 p.m. local time, or 9 p.m. in Paris, according to the public broadcaster RUV. Before this speech, a ministerial coordination committee meets at 5 p.m. in Iceland, or 6 p.m. in Paris.

According to information from the town of Grindavík, the first house that was set on fire by the lava flow was not inhabited. The owner couple lived elsewhere in the city, in a house that was itself badly damaged by the November earthquakes.

The Icelandic media RUV has installed a webcam to follow the progress of the new lava flow live.

From a new fissure that appeared at midday, lava flowed which reached Grindavik, photographed below. Two houses caught fire on contact with the flow.

Despite the dikes built to protect the city, the flows continue inexorably towards Grindavik. “We are not at all able to know when it will stop or if it will spare the city,” confides a French guide, present on site. A report can be found in the article below.

This is the fifth volcanic eruption in Iceland in almost three years. The previous one took place on the evening of December 18 in the same area, located about forty kilometers southwest of the capital Reykjavik. These numerous eruptions are a sign, for volcanologists, of a resumption of volcanic activity in the region.

In a message on the social network Furthermore, “flights are not interrupted,” said the president.

The eruption started around 8 a.m. north of Grindavik, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO). A first crack was created “on both sides of the defenses which began to be built to the north of Grindavík”, about 450 meters from the town.

At midday, the IMO announced that “a new fissure has opened just outside the city limits of Grindavik.” It was this which reached Grindavik, causing the two houses to burn. For the mayor of Grindavik, Fannar Jónasson, the new crack “creates a new situation” but “we can’t do anything”, deeming the situation worrying.

The Icelandic media RUV published aerial photos of the lava flows, including the one that reached Grindavik.

The ongoing volcanic eruption in southwest Iceland has reached the port of Grindavik and two houses caught fire after being hit by lava, according to surveillance footage broadcast by public television. Last night, the few dozen residents who had resettled at the end of December in Grindavik were evacuated, a few hours before the start of the eruption.