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A volcano erupts near the city of Grindavik, Iceland

The city had been evacuated due to a volcanic eruption less than a month ago.

TOPSHOT - Billowing smoke and flowing lava are seen in this Icelandic Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management , January 14, 2024, handout image during an volcanic eruption on the outskirts of the evacuated town of Grindavik, western Iceland.

(Photo by Icelandic Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management / AFP)

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Santiago Ospital

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"A new volcanic eruption began in the early morning just north of Grindavík," Gudni Johannesson, president of Iceland, reported this Sunday. The same area had been affected by another eruption early last month. As on that occasion, the city of Grindavik had been evacuated in advance:

The town had already been successfully evacuated overnight and no lives are in danger, although infrastructure may be under threat.

The president also assured that flights have not been interrupted.

The eruption began at 7:57 UTC following a series of more than 200 earthquakes, according to the Icelandic Met Office (IMO). The volcanic fissure closest to the city is 900 meters from it.

Although authorities were erecting stone and earth barriers to protect the city, the fissure opened closer to the city than the defenses, according to the IMO. In a video shared by the state media RÚV, you can see the evacuation of the machines used to build the parapets:

This is the fifth eruption in Iceland in the last two years, according to AFP.

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