Current Context
A volcano has erupted in southwestern Iceland for the second time in less than a month.
About
- The eruption just came after a swarm of earthquakes near the town of Grindavik.
Residents of Grindavik were previously evacuated from their homes in November 2023.
- The nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa — one of Iceland’s biggest tourist attractions — also closed temporarily.
History of Eruption
- Iceland, which sits above a volcanic hot spot in the North Atlantic, averages an eruption every four to five years.
- The most disruptive in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed huge clouds of ash into the atmosphere and led to widespread airspace closures over Europe.
Volcanoes
- It is an opening or rupture in the Earth’s crust from which hot molten rock, ash, and gas escape.
- Volcanoes are formed when magma, the molten rock beneath the Earth’s surface, rises towards the surface. When the pressure becomes too great, the magma erupts through the crust, forming a volcano.