A volcano erupted in Iceland on Friday that turned the night sky into a real lava lamp.
No injuries were reported. Just joy – and the strange traffic jam.
The eruption took place on Friday night near Mount Fagradalsfjall, about 20 km southwest of the capital, Reykjavik, the Icelandic Meteorological Office. said on Twitter. The agency said the lava fountains are small by volcanic standards, and that seismometers do not pick up much turbulence.
Friday’s event was nothing like the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland 11 years ago, which spewed so much that it caused flights to land in parts of Europe for weeks.
Yet it was the first eruption in southwestern Iceland in about 800 years, and the lava was beautiful. So many people were excited.
“YESSS !! , eruption !! The Icelandic singer Björk wrote on Facebook and Instagram and remarked that she once filmed a music video on the website.
“We in Iceland are sooo excited !!!” she added. ‘We still got it !!! feeling of relief when nature expresses itself !!! ”
The eruption limited an extremely busy period of seismic activity in southwestern Iceland, which began around December 2019. Tens of thousands of quakes have shaken the area in recent weeks, leading scientists to believe an eruption would be imminent.
There is a long history of volcanic activity in Iceland. The land lies on two tectonic plates, which are themselves divided by an underwater mountain range that melts molten hot rock, or magma. Shaking occurs when the magma pushes through the plates.
But it is rare to see earthquakes in and around the greater Reykjavik area, where most of the country’s 368,000 inhabitants live.
Scientists have been saying for weeks that they do not expect activity in the order of the 2010 earthquake at the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, and that the impending eruption is likely to erupt without much explosive force.
“People in Reykjavik wake up with an earthquake, others go to sleep with an earthquake,” Thorvaldur Thordarson, a professor of volcanology at the University of Iceland, said in an interview this month. ‘There are a lot of them, and it worries people, but there’s nothing to worry about. The world is not going to collapse. ‘
He was right.
The eruption on Friday near Mount Fagradalsfjall caused some inconvenience, including traffic jams and concerns about the possibility of volcanic pollution in the Reykjavik area. Authorities warned people not to go near the lava and keep inside with the windows closed.
But the eruption – which enthusiasts around the world have been eagerly awaiting for weeks – was mostly a cause for celebration.
“It started !!!!” Joël Ruch, a volcanologist at the University of Geneva, posted on Twitter when the lava slowly began to flow southwest, away from Reykjavik.
“First photo of the eruption! Wow! ” wrote Sigridur Kristjansdottir, a seismologist in Iceland. Non-specialists excitement expressed online.
The colors in the sky were indeed spectacular. Imagine the Northern Lights, but in blood orange instead of the usual electric green. Or the glowing bulbs of an early Mark Rothko canvas.
Or Björk’s orange hair, around 2011, a few years before she filmed her music video in the vicinity of Mount Fagradalsfjall.
Elian Peltier contribution made.