The eruption started at about 8 a.m. on Sunday, native officers stated. January 14, 2024, 4:16 AM ET• 4 min readLONDON — A volcano erupted north of Grindavík, Iceland, simply earlier than 8 a.m. on Sunday, the Icelandic Met Place of work stated.A Coast Guard helicopter flew over the web site, sending pictures again that gave the impression to display lava flowing from “all sides of the defenses that experience begun to be constructed north of Grindavík,” the Met stated in an replace posted in Icelandic. The lava used to be about 450 meters from the city, officers stated.”Judging by way of the photographs, lava is now flowing against Grindavík,” the Met stated.A volcano spews lava and smoke because it erupts in Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland, Jan. 14, 2024. Iceland Civil Coverage by means of ReutersThe eruption adopted an “intense” sequence of earthquakes that started round 3 a.m. close to the place a volcano erupted in December, the Met workplace stated.”On the time of e-newsletter, over 200 earthquakes had been measured within the space, and the seismicity has moved against the city of Grindavík,” climate officers stated in a understand posted earlier than the eruption.Lava flows in southwestern Iceland on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024, on this symbol taken and launched by way of Civil Coverage of Iceland.Civil Coverage of IcelandThe earthquakes have been within the Sundhnúksgígar crater, a space north of the city. The most important measured used to be an about 3.5 magnitude quake simply after 4 a.m., the Met stated.Initial knowledge confirmed Sunday’s eruption simply southeast of Hagafell, a mountain at the Reykjanes peninsula, the Met stated.Aerial view of the evacuated Icelandic the town of Grindavik, western Iceland on December 21, 2023.Halldor Kolbeins/AFP by means of Getty ImagesAbout 4,000 Grindavík citizens have been evacuated in November, as tens of 1000’s of earthquakes rumbled the area. The ones tremors signalled a prime chance of an eruption, Met officers stated on the time.That the town used to be once more ordered to evacuate on Saturday, officers stated in a remark forward of Sunday’s eruption.