People watch because the night time sky is illuminated brought on by the eruption of a volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland seen from the capital metropolis of Reykjavik on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023.

Brynjar Gunnarsson/AP

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Brynjar Gunnarsson/AP

People watch because the night time sky is illuminated brought on by the eruption of a volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland seen from the capital metropolis of Reykjavik on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023.

Brynjar Gunnarsson/AP

STOCKHOLM — A volcanic eruption began Monday night time on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula, turning the sky orange and prompting the nation’s civil protection to be on excessive alert.

The eruption seems to have occurred about 2.4 miles from the city of Grindavik, the Icelandic Meteorological Office stated. Grainy webcam video confirmed the second of the eruption as a flash of sunshine illuminating the sky at 10:17 p.m. native time. As the eruption unfold, magma, or semi-molten rock, may very well be seen spewing alongside the ridge of a hill.

“The magma flow seems to be at least a hundred cubic meters per second, maybe more. So this would be considered a big eruption in this area at least,” Vidir Reynisson, head of Iceland’s Civil Protection and Emergency Management informed the Icelandic public broadcaster, RUV.

In November, police evacuated the town of Grindavik after sturdy seismic exercise within the space broken houses and raised fears of an imminent eruption.

Iceland’s Meteorological Office stated in a press release early Tuesday that the newest measurements present “the magma is moving to the southwest and the eruption may continue in the direction of Grindavik.”

The dimension of the eruption and the velocity of the lava stream is “many times more than in previous eruptions on the Reykjanes Peninsula in recent years,” the assertion stated.

Iceland sits above a volcanic scorching spot within the North Atlantic and averages an eruption each 4 to 5 years. The most disruptive in current occasions was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed big clouds of ash into the environment and grounded flights throughout Europe for days due to fears ash might injury airplane engines.

Scientists say a brand new eruption would seemingly produce lava however not an ash cloud.

Iceland’s overseas minister, Bjarne Benediktsson stated on X, previously generally known as Twitter, that there are “no disruptions to flights to and from Iceland and international flight corridors remain open.”

A coast guard helicopter will try to substantiate the precise location — and dimension — of the eruption, and also will measure gasoline emissions.

Grindavik, a fishing city of three,400, sits on the Reykjanes Peninsula, about 30 miles southwest of the capital, Reykjavik and never removed from Keflavik Airport, Iceland’s fundamental facility for worldwide flights.