Iceland volcano erupts sending lava bursting into evacuated Grindavik

Locals say they feel hopeless as they see the lava flow towards their homes.

Yet another volcano in southwestern Iceland has erupted just weeks after the Fagradalsfjall volcano blew, with lava bursting into Grindavik this afternoon.

According to a live stream by Iceland’s public broadcaster, RÚV, lava began to spit out of a fissure just shy of 8am local time before erupting into towering fountains.

The country’s national weather service had earlier detected 200 earthquakes near Grindavik, a town about 32 miles southwest of the capital, Reykjavik.

The small fishing town’s 4,000 residents had been fully evacuated last November, with only a small number of residents returning over the following weeks.

But locals likely experienced deja vu in the early hours after police sent them a text to evacuate – again.

Helpless locals have been able to do nothing while they watched the lava hurtle towards their homes, with the molten rock bursting the town limits this afternoon.

This is the fifth volcanic eruption since 2021 on the Reykjanes peninsula, the country’s most populated region where its many volcanoes had once been dormant for some 800 years.