A volcano has erupted south-west of Iceland's capital Reykjavik, the country's meteorological office says.
The Seltun geothermal area lies close to the Fagradalsfjall volcano, which has just erupted in Iceland. Photo: 123rf
It is warning the public of falling rocks and boulders, and also landslides as the eruption began, at the mountain of Fagradalsfjall on Reykjanes peninsula.
This comes after the area recorded more than 50,000 earthquakes in the past three weeks.
In 2010, the eruption of another volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, brought air traffic to a halt across Europe.
However, the eruption of Fagradalsfjall is not expected to spew out much ash or smoke, so aviation should not suffer disruption.
The red shimmer from magma is seen coming out from the erupting Fagradalsfjall volcano behind the town of Keflavik, in Iceland. Photo: AFP
The Icelandic Meteorological Office says the eruption of Fagradalsfjall was confirmed on Friday evening via webcams and satellite images.
A coastguard helicopter was sent to survey the area, about 30 kilometres from Reykjavik.
It later sent first images of the lava snaking its way down after the eruption.
A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 1.2 km from Fagradalsfjall just several hours earlier.
The rift valley in Iceland marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. Photo: 123rf
Iceland frequently experiences tremors as it straddles two tectonic plates, which are drifting in opposite directions.
The country is the only place in the world where the mid-Atlantic rift is visible above the surface of the ocean.
-BBC
