Reykjanes Peninsula Volcanic Eruptions
During the night of December 18, 2023, the long-awaited eruption of a volcanic system on the Reykjanes Peninsula occurred as a fissure tore open the ground near the town of Grindavik, Iceland. Lava and smoke spewed out of the molten crevice in a fiery spectacle.
Over a month earlier in November, residents of the town of Grindavik were evacuated as a precaution following thousands of earthquakes and tremors hinting at the upcoming eruption.
Only a few weeks after the first eruption on the morning of January 14, 2024, another fissure opened up in the Earth in the same vicinity as the previous one following an increase in seismic activity, lasting nearly two days.
Less than a month later during the early morning hours of February 8, yet again a volcanic eruption ripped wide the Earth, unleashing lava from the igneous world below.
On the night of March 16th, once more a maw tore open on the surface near Grindavik, unleashing the most powerful eruption to date and reddening the skies of the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik.
On May 29th, the volcano erupted for the fifth time, prompting the evacuation of the nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa. The eruption caused fountains of lava to shoot over a hundred feet in the air along a 2 mile (3.4 km) fissure.
On the evening of August 22nd, a new fissure opened up on the Reykjanes peninsula, causing the sixth volcanic eruption in that area since it first erupted in December.
Neatly a year after the first eruption, a resurgence in volcanic activity saw another fissure tear open on the surface late at night on November 20th, 2024, releasing lava onto the Earth once again.
For more information on the Icelandic volcanic system, visit the Catalogue of Icelandic Volcanoes.
Satellite imagery of this event:
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