COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – An Icelandic volcano that has been throwing lava into the sky since it erupted last Friday could continue its spectacular display for years, potentially becoming a new tourist attraction on the island known for its natural wonders.
Thousands of Icelanders gathered at the eruption site on the Reykjanes Peninsula, about 30 kilometers southwest of the capital, hoping to be amazed by the rare lava fountains and even cook a meal on the burning magma shell.
Drone footage filmed above the crater shows molten lava boiling and gushing and gushing over the sides of the volcano.
“It’s a perfect tourist eruption,” University of Iceland volcanology professor Thorvaldur Thordarson told Reuters.
“With the warning, though, don’t get too close.”
To cope with the visitors’ hoard, Icelandic authorities have set up a 3.5-kilometer hiking trail to the site of the eruption and are patrolling the area to prevent spectators from venturing into dangerous areas polluted by volcanic gas.
“People were hiking from many different directions in the area,” Agust Gunnar Gylfason, project manager at the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, told Reuters.
Gylfason estimated that more than ten thousand people ventured to the site on Friday night, some of whom needed rescue due to the harsh weather and who were traveling without enough food or clothing.
Since the initial eruption, the lava has flowed steadily from the volcano at a rate of 5 to 10 cubic meters per second, Thordarson said, a flow strong enough to ensure the lava does not solidify and close the crack. For now.
“If it falls below three cubic meters, the eruption is very likely to stop,” Thordarson said.
He compared the lava flow to that of the Pu’u ‘O’o eruption in Hawaii, which began in 1983 and continued to erupt for 35 years.
“It could end tomorrow or it could still be in a few decades.”
Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Edited by Alexandra Hudson