Impressive images in Iceland: volcanic lava engulfs a spa parking lot!
Eva Deschamps / November 26, 2024
Lava from the latest volcanic eruption in southwest Iceland engulfed the parking lot of the country's main tourist attraction, the Blue Lagoon spa, on Thursday, according to images published by Icelandic media.
A black and orange lava flow could be seen covering the area, which was once used as a parking lot for 350 cars, as well as a space for coaches.
A service building used to store visitors' luggage was also swallowed up by the lava, but there appears to be no immediate threat to the hot-water basins as the lava was held back by a protective wall.
A Blue Lagoon official, Helga Arnadottir, told the daily Morgunbladid that she didn't know when the site would be able to reopen to visitors. “The authorities are currently assessing the situation”.
The fishing village of Grindavik and the Blue Lagoon were evacuated on Wednesday evening after the Sundhnukagigar volcanic fissure on the Reykjanes peninsula erupted for the seventh time in a year.
Most of 4,000 residents were evacuated a year ago, shortly before the region's first volcanic eruption.
Since then, almost all the houses have been sold to the state, and almost all the residents have left.
The Reykjanes peninsula had not seen an eruption for eight centuries until March 2021. Further eruptions occurred in August 2022 and July 2023. Volcanologists warned that volcanic activity in the region had entered a new era.
Iceland is home to 33 active volcanic systems, more than any other European country.
It lies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a fault in the ocean floor that separates the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, triggering earthquakes and eruptions.
It lies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a fault in the ocean floor that separates the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, triggering earthquakes and eruptions.
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