Record-breaking numbers of visitors have been travelling to see a spectacular volcanic eruption located in Iceland, which has since been captured on video and in photos
Over 5,000 people have headed to the Reykjanes peninsular in order to catch a glimpse of the orange-hued volcanic display.
Record-breaking numbers of visitors have been travelling to see a spectacular volcano eruption located in Iceland, which has since been captured on video and in photos.
Thousands of people have headed to the Reykjanes Peninsula near the town of Grindavik, which about 19 miles (30km) southwest of the capital city Reykjavík, in order to catch a glimpse of the volcanic display.
This comes after a Russian mining firm has paid a record cost of $2bn (£1.4bn) over an oil spill, thought to be one of the worst environmental disasters in Russia’s history.
Some visitors have even been seen grilling food on the scorching crust of magma left by the eruption, as they took in the unique experience.
“I don’t know, it’s just overwhelming to see earth forming in this way and the scale, the size of the people compared to this massive lava field that is forming. It’s just stunning,” said Roberto Pagani, who is an Italian man living in Iceland.
Crowds have been watched the glowing flows in awe, as steam rose from the lava as rain began to fall onto the volcano.
The entire western flanks of both the cinder cones of the volcano collapsed on Sunday, which revealed the inner part of the molten lava.
It was both the highest and strongest impact since the beginning of the volcanic eruption, which had been spewing lava at around 164ft (50m) high.
Drone footage has filmed over the crater showed the molten lava that was bubbling and spurting as it was gushing down the sides of the erupting volcano.
“It’s a perfect tourist eruption,” volcanology professor at the University of Iceland, Thorvaldur Thordarson, said. “With the caveat though, don’t go too close.”
This comes after people are now permitted to be meeting in groups of up to six people, or as two households, and outdoor team sports are also allowed to restart in a major easing of the lockdown restrictions in England.
He said that since the initial eruption of the volcano, lava has steadily been seeping out of the volcano at a rate of between 5 to 10 cubic metres per second, which is a flow strong enough to ensure that the lava does not solidify and close the fissure within the volcano.
“If it drops below three cubic metres, it’s very likely that the eruption will stop,” he added.
Prof Thordarson has compared the lava flux to that of the Pu’u ‘O’o eruption that took place in in Hawaii, which began in 1983 and continued to erupt for a further 35 years.
“It could end tomorrow or it could still be going in a few decades.”
