REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — The eruption of a long-dormant volcano that sent streams of lava flowing across a small valley in southwestern Iceland is easing and shouldn’t interfere with air travel, Icelandic Meteorological Office stated Saturday.
The fissure eruption began at around 8:45 p.m. Friday within the Geldinga Valley, about 32 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of the capital, Reykjavik, the Met Office stated. The eruption is “minor” and there were no signs of ash or dust that could disrupt aviation, the agency stated.
This southwestern corner of Iceland is the most heavily populated part of the nation. The Department of Emergency Management stated it doesn’t anticipate evacuations unless levels of volcanic gases rise significantly.
Keflavik Airport, Iceland’s international air traffic hub, stated flights have remained on schedule since the eruption began.
“There is no indication of production of ash and tephra, and there is no imminent hazard for aviation,” the Met Office stated on its website.
In 2010, an eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland sent clouds of ash and dust into the atmosphere, interrupting air travel between Europe and North America because of concerns the material could damage jet engines. More than 100,000 flights were grounded, stranding millions of passengers.
The Geldinga Valley eruption is the first on the Reykjanes Peninsula in almost 800 years.
The area began rumbling with increased seismic activity 15 months ago, and the tremors increased dramatically last month.
Over the past three weeks, the area has been rattled by about 50,000 small earthquakes, dozens of them magnitude 4 or stronger, the Met Office stated.
Iceland, situated above a volcanic hotspot within the North Atlantic, averages one eruption every 4 to five years. The last one was at Holuhraun in 2014, when a fissure eruption spread lava the size of Manhattan over the interior highland region.
Scientists flew over the Geldinga Valley eruption on Saturday morning and estimated the eruptive fissure was about 500 meters long (1,640 feet.) The 2 streams of lava were about 2.5 kilometers from the nearest road.