Iceland is famous for its volcanic activity, from the ash cloud produced by Eyjafjallajökull in 2010 that grounded flights, to countless news reports of recent eruptions.

Footage from the latest eruption shows the lava spreading near the Reykjanes peninsula, the fifth eruption in that area since December. According to the BBC, the small fishing town of Grindavik was evacuated as well as the Blue Lagoon Spa, a popular tourist site fed by geothermal activity; workers at Svartsengi power plant were also evacuated. 

Updates from the Icelandic Met Office report that the main part of the fissure is 2.4 kilometers long (1.5 miles). They also write that there has been “significantly reduced volcanic activity” since May 30. 

“Activity on the eruptive fissure at the Sundhnúkur crater row has decreased significantly. The activity in the eruption has remained similar during last night and this morning and the volcanic tremor has been stable since late last evening. No explosive activity has been seen since yesterday afternoon when steam explosions occurred due to lava flowing into fissures and came into contact with groundwater at Hagafell,” an update reads.

Víðir Reynisson, the director of the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, stressed that people should not block the movement of emergency personnel and should not stop to take pictures. 

“We are also always worried when we see people stopping on the Reykjanesbraut road and leaving their cars to take pictures, but the Civil Protection has put great emphasis on not stopping on the Reykjanesbraut road to watch the volcano,” Reynisson told the Iceland Monitor. 

In February, it was reported that the flow of magma in November 2023 had been so great that it broke the world speed record for the fastest lava ever recorded.