Iceland is once again the scene of a fire show. The Reykjanes peninsula, in the southwest of the country, is experiencing its seventh volcanic eruption in a year from the night of Wednesday, November 20 to Thursday, November 21. Although fortunately the lava did not cause any victims, on Thursday it covered the parking lot of the Blu Lagoon spa, the main tourist site in the country.
In the images published by the Icelandic media we can see a flow of black and orange lava that covers the area that once served as a parking lot for 350 cars as well as space for coaches. A service building used to store visitors’ luggage was also engulfed by lava.
However, there seemed to be no immediate threat to the hot pools, as the lava was contained by a protective wall.
About fifty houses evacuated
Blue Lagoon manager Helga Arnadottir told daily Morgunbladid that she did not know when the site could reopen to visitors. “Authorities are currently assessing the situation,” he said.
According to the Associated Press, the lava also reached the pipes that carry the hot water needed to heat the Reykjanes Peninsula, according to the Icelandic meteorological service, but these pipes are designed to withstand the lava.
The eruption, “smaller than the previous one” dating back to August according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office, began on Wednesday at 11:14 p.m. local time (Thursday at 12:14 a.m. French time). It caused a crack just under three kilometers long and forced civil protection to evacuate around fifty houses in the fishing village of Grindavik, as well as visitors to the Blue Lagoon.
Most of Grindavík’s 4,000 inhabitants had been evacuated a year ago, shortly before the first volcanic eruption in the region. Since then, almost all the houses have been sold to the State and almost all the residents have left.
Source: BFM TV
