A volcano erupted in southwest Iceland early Sunday, sending lava flowing toward a nearby town for the second time in a few weeks, authorities said.
The eruption began north of the town of Grindavík just before 8 a.m. UTC (2 a.m. ET), the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said.
The town was evacuated on Saturday as fears of an imminent eruption rose following multiple earthquakes in the area.
Barriers of earth and rock were built in recent weeks in a bid to prevent lava from reaching Grindavík, but authorities said the latest eruption has apparently breached those defenses.
"According to the first images from the coast guard's surveillance flight, a crack has opened on both sides of the defenses that have begun to be built north of Grindavík," the IMO said in a statement at 8:47 a.m.
"Judging by the pictures, lava is now flowing towards Grindavik. Based on measurements from the coast guard's helicopter, the perimeter is now about 450 meters (1,500 feet) from the northernmost houses in the town."
Iceland's civil protection agency on Sunday said authorities had raised the public protection alert level to "emergency," the highest on a three-level scale.
Iceland's President Gudni Thorlacius Johannesson said on social media that the eruption posed no threat to lives.
"A new volcanic eruption began in the early morning just north of Grindavík," he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "The town had already been successfully evacuated overnight and no lives are in danger, although infrastructure may be under threat."
He said there were no interruptions to flights.
Nýjar myndir frá eldgosinu. Teknar úr þyrlu Landhelgisgæslunnar rétt í þessu.Myndir: Almannavarnir / Notist að vild
Coast Guard #video shows how close the latest #eruption is to the town of #Grindavík pic.twitter.com/RKOREdO1qY
— RÚV English (@RuvEnglish) January 14, 2024
The eruption is the second on the Reykjanes peninsula in less than a month.
Grindavik's 4,000 residents were previously evacuated in November and the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, a popular tourist spot, was closed after strong seismic activity damaged homes and raised fears of an imminent eruption. On December 18, a volcano erupted in the Svartsengi volcanic system, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from Grindavík.
The town was spared when lava flowed in a different direction and residents were allowed to return on December 22.
Iceland lies on a volcanic hot spot in the North Atlantic and averages an eruption every five years, but the frequency has increased to about one every 12 months since 2021.
The most significant in recent years was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which caused a massive cloud of ash to spread over Europe causing severe disruption to air travel.
Update 1/14/24, 6:05 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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