The recent Reykjanes Fires: Volcanology and Earthquake Effects on a Large, Diverse, Low-Density Area

The Icelandic Meteorological Office said the eruption began just before 8:00 a.m. local time Sunday about a half mile from the town of Grindavík after a series of intense earthquakes.

Iceland’s president, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, said in an address to the nation on Sunday that a “daunting period of upheaval” had begun for those in the Reykjanes peninsula.

Iceland’s government said Sunday that Grindavík had been evacuated early that morning and that the eruption isn’t expected to reach other populated areas.

So far no flights have been disrupted, and officials are monitoring threats to infrastructure. At least three homes have either burned down or been overtaken by lava, according to the Icelandic broadcaster RUV.

Jhannesson offered sympathies to the family of Lvk Pétursson, who went missing in Grindavk last week.

Sky News reported Pétursson fell in a crack after filling crevasses formed by volcanic activity and earthquakes.

The latest eruptions are the fifth such event since 2021 on the Reykjanes Peninsula, which lies southwest of the capital city of Reykjavík. Volcanologists say the activity may be just the beginning of a new phase of eruptions. Before 2021 the last time this area was active, in a period called the Reykjanes Fires in the early 13th century, lava flows reached as far as what are now the suburbs of Reykjavík, as well as the ring road that connects Iceland’s international airport to the rest of the country.