Sixty households - 10% of the town’s usual population - has been evacuated so far, said a spokesperson for Iceland’s Civil Protection Agency, Hjordis Gudmundsdottir, adding that with many people had not yet returned after last month’s eruption. There was no danger to human life, Gudmundsdottir said.
Following the eruption, police have raised the alert level, the agency said, adding that an Icelandic Coast Guard helicopter has also been deployed to monitor the situation.
While anti-lava walls around the fishing town are so far holding out, Gudmundsdottir said it is “quite possible” for lava to reach it and damage infrastructure, adding that authorities were tracking the flow.
Talking about air travel, Gudmundsdottir told CNN that the airport in nearby Keflavik was safe as the eruption hadn’t produced any ash, which can impact flights. “This eruption will not affect Keflavik airport or air travel in general,” she said.
Grindavík, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) southwest of Iceland’s capital city Reykjavík on the Reykjanes peninsula, was previously evacuated following weeks of seismic activity which culminated in a dramatic volcanic eruption that expelled bursts of lava and sent huge plumes of smoke into the sky. CNN
