The new volcanic eruption which occurred on Saturday in Iceland, near the village of Grindavik, already seemed to be weakening this Sunday.
The new lava flow observed on Saturday near the village of Grindavik, in the southwest of Iceland, apparently caused more fear than harm.
This Sunday, defenses put in place to contain the lava have so far kept the molten rock away from homes which were evacuated as a precaution.
Scientists have stated that the rash seemed to be getting weaker and would probably stop within a few hours.
A volcanic system on the Reykjanes Peninsula in the southwest of the country erupted Saturday evening for the fourth time in three months, sending jets of orange lava into the night sky.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said the eruption had opened a crack in the earth about 3 kilometers long between the mountains of Stóra-Skógfell and Hagafell.
Hundreds of people were evacuated from the Blue Lagoon spa resort, one of Iceland’s main tourist attractions, when the eruption began, national broadcaster RUV said.
No flight interruptions have been reported in nearby Keflavik, Iceland’s main airport.
The site of the eruption is a few kilometers northeast of Grindavik, a coastal town of 3,800 located about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik.
The city was evacuated before the initial eruption on December 18. A second eruption that began on January 14 sent lava toward the city. Defensive walls that had been reinforced after the first eruption stopped some of the flow, but several buildings were consumed by the lava.
Both eruptions lasted only a few days. A third eruption began on February 8. It was over in a matter of hours, but not beforea river of lava has swallowed up a pipelinecutting off heating and hot water to thousands of people.
Iceland, located above a volcanic hotspot in the North Atlantic, experiences regular eruptions and has plenty of experience dealing with them. The most disruptive eruption in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed huge clouds of ash into the atmosphere and led to widespread closure of airspace above Europe.
No confirmed deaths was reported during recent eruptions, but a worker was reported missing after falling into a fissure opened by the volcano.