Lava flows from a volcano in Iceland were slowing on Wednesday, the Icelandic Metrological Office said on Wednesday, as the eruption looked set to spare a nearby town that was evacuated following weeks of earthquakes.
The eruption late on Monday on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland spewed lava and smoke more than 100 metres into the air in a dramatic finale to weeks of waiting after the alarm was first raised over the seismic activity.
The government has said flights were unlikely to be impacted, easing worries of a repeat of the international travel chaos caused by the ash from another Icelandic volcanic eruption in 2010 just as the busy holiday travel season kicks in.
Authorities last month evacuated the nearly 4 000 inhabitants of the fishing town of Grindavik, about 40 km southwest of capital city Reykjavik, allowing them back intermittently to check on homes put at risk by the tremors.
The eruption in the Svartsengi volcanic system might end over the weekend or next week or lava flows could continue at a slow rate for weeks or months, similar to what happened at the nearby Fagradalsfjall system in 2021, Halldor Geirsson, associate professor at the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland, told Reuters.
