COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – A volcano in Iceland that expels lava into the sky since it erupted last Friday could continue its spectacular display for years, potentially becoming a new tourist attraction on the island known for its natural wonders.
Thousands of Icelanders flocked to the eruption site on the Reykjanes Peninsula, some 30 kilometers southwest of the capital, hoping to marvel at the rare lava sources and even cook a meal in the scorching magma crust.
Images of drones filmed over the crater show the molten lava bubbling and gushing, and gushing down the sides of the volcano.
“It is a perfect tourist eruption,” Thorvaldur Thordarson, professor of volcanology at the University of Iceland, told Reuters.
“With the exception, however, don’t come too close.”
To cope with the sheer number of visitors, Icelandic authorities have set up a 3.5-kilometer hiking trail to the site of the eruption and are patrolling the area to prevent onlookers from venturing into dangerous areas polluted by volcanic gases.
“People were walking from many different directions to the area,” Agust Gunnar Gylfason, project manager for the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, told Reuters.
Gylfason estimated that more than 10,000 people have ventured into the area since Friday night, some of which have had to be rescued due to the adverse weather and traveling without enough food or adequate clothing.
Since the initial eruption, lava has continuously leaked from the volcano at a rate of 5 to 10 cubic meters per second, said Thordarson, a flow strong enough to ensure that the lava does not solidify and closes the crack. For now.
“If it drops below three cubic meters, it is very likely that the eruption will stop,” said Thordarson.
He compared the lava flow to that of the Pu’u ‘O’o eruption in Hawaii, which started in 1983 and continued to erupt for 35 years.
“It may end tomorrow or it may still last for a few decades.”
Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Editing by Alexandra Hudson