After more than ten thousand earthquakes on the Reykjanes peninsula since last Friday, the Magma has finally made its way to the surface. Just after one today, Wednesday the 3rd of August a long fissure opened up on the lava field formed last year by the Geldingadalir volcano. The fissure wasted no time and fountains of Lava have been gushing since it appeared as can be seen in the image above, is a screen grab taken at 1:43 Pm from the mbl.is livestream on youtube
The eruption is was accompanied by a sense of relief following almost a week of tremors and earthquakes. There were 57 quakes > 3 in the last 48 hours alone. And while no one can say for sure, it is likely that the earthquakes were caused by the magma forcing its way to the vents that have just opened up at Geldingadalir, and will now stop.
It is likely that the lava will continue to issue for some time, and again change the landscape at Fagradalsfjall which had just recently cooled from last year’s eruption. No doubt the awe-inspiring terraformer will pull a crowd. Unlike last year’s eruption, there is a carpark and trail to take visitors to the action. Which is most considerate.
The eruption has not affected flights, eruptions of this nature are unlikely to cause ash clouds problematic to aviation.
