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Volcanic lava endangers town - 21st February 2024

A new volcanic eruption has hit the south-west of Iceland, the third one since December.

In the area around the town of Grindavik, a water pipe was damaged. However, unlike the earlier eruption, the buildings were not destroyed. The town has been empty of people since the first incident, when local people were evacuated to safety. Grindavik's mayor, Fannar Jonasson, explains the current situation.

Fannar Jónasson: And it's no less bad that it's so close to the hot water pipe. We don't know what the consequences might be, but it's obviously a very serious matter. But otherwise, we're pleased that Grindavík's infrastructure and buildings are not at risk, as things stand."

Iceland has 30 active volcano systems, which means they can be a danger. This volcano's a 'fissure volcano', so the boiling lava flows out of the volcano via a long crack. Compared with the 2010 volcanic explosion, it's had a less damaging effect. Then, clouds of volcanic dust stayed in the atmosphere. This prevented many of the world's planes from flying.

The event was unforgettable for visitors like Jack, from Canada.

Jack: "I woke up to the siren going off, and, and we packed our stuff up and went out in the parking lot and there's the, there's the volcano going. It was awesome. It was amazing. Just something once in a lifetime, being able to see it."

Reporter: "But, but you were very close to it?" "Yeah, we were like a kilometre maybe."

Instead of excitement, locals felt relief after the stress of waiting years for the eruption. Solny Palsdottir is one of 3,800 townspeople who had to escape from Grindavik.

Sólný Pálsdóttir: "It's hard to explain. It's such a relief when it happens. We mustn't forget that we've been in this scenario for four years and that we've been living with these tremors and this tension for so many years.

According to scientists, these last few months are possibly the beginning of a new volcanic chapter in history. It's resulted in many local people worrying they may never return home.