The fissure extends over a length of 3.9 kilometres, the Meteorological Office said. A new eruption occurred on Thursday evening in Iceland, on the Reykjanes peninsula, located in the southwest of the island.
“Seismicity is relatively stable and the main activity is at the northern end of the eruptive fissure. It is therefore unlikely that the fissure will extend to the south. It is not excluded that the eruptive fissure could extend to the north,” the Bureau said in a regularly updated bulletin.
Volcanic awakening
At this stage, air traffic is not disrupted. People around Grindavik have been evacuated as a safety precaution, according to Icelandic media. Most of the residents of the small port town had already left the area after an eruption in November.
This is the sixth volcanic eruption in Iceland in eight months. In March, the police even declared a state of emergency on the Reykjanes peninsula. According to volcanologists, after 800 years of calm, the activity recorded over the past three years indicates a revival of volcanic activity in the country.
