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A volcano has erupted on the Reykjanes peninsula of south-west Iceland, following weeks of intense earthquake activity. Around 4,000 people were evacuated from the fishing town of Grindavik and the nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa was closed. The eruption started north of the town at 22:17 local time (22:17 GMT), and the region around the capital Reykjavik has been experiencing an increase in earthquake activity since late October. The eruption is located about 4km (2.5 miles) north-east of Grindavik and the seismic activity is moving towards the town.
Images and videos posted on social media showed lava bursting from the volcano just an hour after an earthquake swarm, or seismic events, were detected. The eruption can be seen from Reykjavik, which is about 42km north-east of Grindavik. One eyewitness there told the BBC that half of the sky in the direction of the town was "lit up in red" from the eruption, and smoke could be seen billowing into the air.
The length of the crack in the volcano is about 3.5km, with the lava flowing at a rate of around 100 to 200 cubic meters per second. This was many times more than in previous eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula in recent years. Iceland has been on high alert for a potential volcano eruption for several weeks, and last month authorities ordered people to leave Grindavík as a precaution. There were no reports of injuries.
In April 2010, an ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruption caused the largest closure of European airspace since World War Two, with losses estimated at between 1.5bn and 2.5bn euros (£1.3-2.2bn; $1.6-2.7bn). Volcanologist Dr Evgenia Ilyinskaya told the BBC that there would not be the same level of disruption as 2010, as these volcanoes in south-west Iceland are "physically not able to generate the same ash clouds".
