The Fagradalsfjall volcano, which is located on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland, erupted on December 18 after weeks of intense earthquakes and tremors.
- In the first two hours of the eruption, hundreds of cubic metres of lava per second flowed out of the volcano.
- The authorities anticipated the eruption due to the seismic activity and evacuated nearly 4,000 people from Grindavik, a fishing town threatened by the lava flow.
About Iceland
- Iceland is located just south of the Arctic Circle in the North Atlantic Ocean.
- Iceland is located on the Mid Atlantic Ridge. The Ridge is actually the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. It is mostly a submarine, running along the length of the Atlantic from north to south.
- However, in the North Atlantic, it rises over the ocean surface in the form of the island of Iceland. This feature of its geology has given rise to Iceland’s unique landscape made up of geysers (hot springs), glaciers, mountains, volcanoes and lava fields.
- Iceland is home to 33 active volcanoes, the highest in Europe.
- This unique landscape has given Iceland the epithet, ‘Land of Fire and Ice’.
- The country was only settled by humans in 874, when the first Norsemen (Vikings) arrived from Scandinavia and founded Reykjavik.
- The current eruption is the fourth it has experienced in less than three years. These eruptions could be a new era of volcanic activity on the peninsula.
- The last time a volcanic eruption in Iceland captured the eyes of the world was in 2010, when Eyjafjallajokull, a volcano on the island’s south coast, erupted.
