A volcanic eruption has occurred in Iceland, shooting lava spewing 100 metres into the air and turned the night sky red.
The blast happened on Friday night at Fagradalsfjall, a mountain on the Reykjanes Peninsula less than 20 miles southwest of capital Reykjavik.
A fissure up around 500 metres long opened up with lava fountains reaching up to 100 metres high, the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said.
Lava travelled across one square kilometre – the equivalent of almost 200 football fields – within just four hours of the explosion, at around 8.45pm.
Iceland has recorded more than 40,000 earthquakes in the past month, a massive leap from the 1,000 – 3,000 registered annually since 2014, Naturenews gathered.
The IMO classed the explosion as ‘small’ and said it was unlikely to spew much ash or smoke into the atmosphere.
In a series of updates on Twitter, the IMO said: ‘The eruption began at Fagradalsfjall in Geldingadalur, at about 20:45 tonight. The eruption is considered small and the eruption fissure is estimated to be about 500 m long. The lava is estimated to be less than 1 km2 in size. There is little eruption activity in the area.’
Residents in Thorlakshofn, east of Fagradalsfjall, have been warned to stay indoors to avoid being exposed to volcanic gasses.
