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The eruption was the seventh on the Reykjanes peninsula near
Iceland's capital Reykjavik since 2021 when geological systems
that had lain dormant for around 800 years again became active.
Man-made barriers have been successful in steering the lava away
from infrastructure including the Svartsengi geothermal power
plant and Grindavik, a fishing town of some 4,000 residents.
Footage from public broadcaster RUV showed lava flowing a few
hundred meters from the town which was evacuated during an
eruption in November and again during another one in February.
"The defenses at Grindavik proved their value ... they have
guided the lava flow in the intended direction," local utility
HS Orka said, adding that infrastructure running to the
Svartsengi power plant was intact.
Magma had been accumulating underground since the last eruption
in February, prompting authorities to warn of an imminent
eruption.
The warning time late on Saturday was only 15 minutes before
fountains of molten rock began soaring from a 3km-long (1.9
mile) fissure, roughly the same size and at the same place as
the eruption in February.
Lava flows continued at a steady pace on Monday, and it was too
early to project when it would end, Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson,
professor of geophysics at the University of Iceland, told RUV.
"It was surprisingly stable overnight and certainly majestic,
but is still only between 2-5% of what it was at the beginning,"
he said.
The February eruption lasted less than two days while volcanic
activity continued for six months at a nearby system in 2021.
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Andrew
Cawthorne and Ed Osmond)
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