REYKJAVIK, ICELAND (AP) – A long dormant volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland erupted alive on Friday night, spilling lava on both sides in the area’s first volcanic eruption in nearly 800 years.
Initial aerial material, posted on the Facebook page of the Icelandic Meteorological Office, has so far shown a relatively small eruption, with two streams of lava flowing in opposite directions. The glow of the lava was visible from the outskirts of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavík, about 32 kilometers away.
The Department of Emergency Management said it did not expect evacuations because the volcano is in a remote valley, about 2.5 kilometers from the nearest road.
The Fagradals mountain volcano was dormant for 6,000 years, and the Reykjanes peninsula did not erupt in 781 years.
There have been signs of a possible eruption recently, with earthquakes occurring daily for the past three weeks. Volcanologists, however, were still surprised because the seismic activity had subsided before the eruption.