A volcano erupted in Iceland on Friday, essentially turning the night sky into a real-life lava lamp.
No injuries were reported. Just joy — and the odd traffic jam.
The eruption occurred on Friday evening near Mount Fagradalsfjall, about 20 miles southwest of the capital, Reykjavik, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said on Twitter. The agency said that the lava fountains were small by volcano standards, and that seismometers were not recording much turbulence.
Friday’s event was nothing like the eruption 11 years ago of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland, which spewed so much ash that it grounded flights across parts of Europe for weeks.
Still, it was southwestern Iceland’s first eruption in about 800 years, and the lava was stunning. So a lot of people were excited.
and Instagram, noting that she had once filmed a music video at the site.
“We in iceland are sooo excited !!!” she added. “We still got it !!! sense of relief when nature expresses herself !!!”
an unusually busy spell of seismic activity in southwestern Iceland that began around December 2019. Tens of thousands of quakes have shaken the area in recent weeks, leading scientists to believe that an eruption could be imminent.
There is a long history of volcanic activity in Iceland. The country straddles two tectonic plates, which are themselves divided by an undersea mountain chain that oozes molten hot rock, or magma. Quakes occur when the magma pushes through the plates.