The volcano of the Fagradals mountain, in the southwest of Iceland, was dormant 6,000 years ago. But on Friday night, following weeks of earthquakes in the area, the volcano came to life.
The eruption is the first that the Reykjanes Peninsula, where the volcano is located, has experienced in 781 years.
The video of the eruption shows the glowing lava rising from the earth, illuminating a totally dark night. The lava glow can be seen up to 20 miles from Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland, according to the Associated Press and photos of the glow.
Icelandic police tweeted on Friday that people should stay home and keep windows closed to avoid gas pollution. When volcanoes erupt, lava expels a number of potentially dangerous gases, including sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen fluoride, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said Saturday morning that the pollution from this eruption, however, “should not cause much discomfort to people, except near the source of the eruption.”
On its website, the office said that “no volcanic ash has been detected, but a high level of volcanic gases has been measured near the site of the eruption”. Scientists and officials are monitoring emissions closely.
On Saturday morning, the Icelandic Meteorological Office reported that volcanic activity had “decreased somewhat” since Friday night. Department scientists did not mention much concern for people in the area, as the lava area is less than 1 square kilometer. The eruptive cracks – cracks in the Earth’s surface from which the lava flows – are approximately 500 to 700 meters long, according to the office.
“The lava sources are small and the lava flows are currently a local danger,” tweeted the office.
The Scientific Council for Civil Protection said on Saturday morning that it does not believe the eruption is a threat to structures.
A small earthquake occurred just hours before the volcano erupted.
Southwest Iceland has been hit by a “swarm” of thousands of earthquakes since February 24th. Dozens of them had a magnitude of 3 or greater, which means they could be felt. On Thursday, just a day before the eruption, the IMO reported that there had been 400 earthquakes in a period of about seven hours. Despite the extent, it was “a little less” seismic activity compared to other mornings in which about 1,000 earthquakes occurred.