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A volcanic eruption has started on Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula, sending lava spewing some 150 metres into the air as the "worst case scenario" plays out.
The eruption follows over 230 earthquakes in the past few weeks and a "seismic swarm" of more than 1,000 earthquakes in 24 hours on November 9. The Icelandic Met Office warned on Monday night: "Eruption has started."
MBL.is states that the eruption is around a confined area north of Grindavík, a fishing town on the Southern Peninsula of Iceland.
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A strong earthquake swarm began on the Reykjanes peninsula around 9pm this evening (December 18), and is centred at the Sundhnjúka crater near Hagafell.
Porvald Pórðarson, a volcanologist, told MBL that the "worst-case scenario" is currently feared.
“This is the worst place, it looks like it. West of the pasture and up there, and then probably up through the Sundhnúkar crater row, which are just north of it. There are super-high plumes of magma. Now it’s a total guess, but the highest plumes are probably 150 metres."
"This means that the lava is flowing very quickly from the crater,” he said, adding, “This may be close to the worst case imaginable. Unfortunately.”
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Icelandic Police said: "An eruption has begun. We ask people not to be in front of the responders and not to go in the direction of the eruption. It is important that roads and other things are as accessible as possible."
Fannar Jónasson, mayor of Grindavík, said tonight in an interview with Vísi, said "it's going to be a long night".
"I'm just, like others, trying to get information. But this seems like quite a big explosion explosion in the early stages. But we don't know everything yet. It's going to be a long night," he said.
Last month Grindavík was totally evacuated after over 1,000 earthquakes in a day.
As for tonight's eruption, The Volcanoes and Natural Hazards Group of Southland have said it is powerful, the magma jets are very high and it has been lengthening rapidly for the past half hour.
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