Scientists descended on the area near an erupting volcano in Iceland's southwest on Sunday, as lava continued to pour from the crater near Fagradalsfjall, a mountain on the Reykjanes Peninsula since Friday.
Drone footage showed lava spewing from the volcano, as people showed up to film and enjoy the natural phenomenon. Scientists at the foot of the volcano even used its lava as a giant grill to cook up hot dogs as they studied the eruption.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) which had classified the eruption as small, said measurements showed no volcanic ash had been detected but a high level of volcanic gases had been measured close to the eruption site.
"Here is the most beautiful thing that I have seen, this volcano," a member of Iceland's Search and Rescue team said. The volunteer group was at the site to make sure spectators were safe.
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Video Summary
AI Generated
This video discusses a current volcanic eruption in Iceland near Reykjavik. The eruption was preceded by a massive earthquake swarm of approximately 50,000 events. Experts are monitoring the lava flow, which is currently filling a topographically confined area, and are emphasizing the importance of safety regarding lava proximity and toxic gas exposure.
So our expectations are that with this topographically confined area, it will begin to fill up a
little bit like a bathtub, and it depends on how long the eruption goes on, but there's
just one spillway and that's over there.
So if the eruption continues for a longer period of time, we might have quite a show
once that bathtub begins to drain into the next area.
So it's quite an interesting eruption.
It didn't really begin with a strong bang, but instead we've had this fantastic earthquake
swarm with probably 50,000 earthquakes in a month.
And so the magma had been gradually rising towards the surface and is now producing a
relatively small eruption compared to the last one in Iceland, Hallahörn, in 2014-2015,
which was a much bigger event.
But this one's close to Reykjavik and a fantastic setting to study.
Here is the most beautiful thing that I have seen, this volcano.
We are just making sure that people are safe and trying to keep people at a distance from
the lava.
People were getting a little bit nervous about it because it had been for two weeks straight,
or three weeks, I don't know.
But now that's down and this is up, so that's good.
Good to be in good clothes.
It's cold in Iceland.
It's hard to walk here.
The wind can change at every time, so you have to think about gas and stuff like that.
Like we are now with the wind from this side, so the gas is going there, so we're safe.
If you're standing there, you're not safe, so you have to be very careful.
