Orange skies: Iceland's volcano eruption up close

Massive seismic activity had been indicating that an eruption was close for months. The volcano close to Grindawik in southwest Iceland finally erupted on Monday night. It made for surreal images: The magma spewed out of long cracks in the Earth and turned the night sky orange.

According to the Icelandic Meteorological Institute (IMO), the approximately 3.5-kilometer-long (roughly 2-mile-long) and growing fissure spewed out around 100 to 200 cubic meters of lava per second, many times more than previous eruptions in the area. The country's civil defense warned the public not to approach the area.

On Tuesday morning, experts said the direction the lava streams were flowing in meant that they would probably not become a threat to the only nearby village. The residents of Grindavik hope that their homes will be spared.

After the spectacular eruption overnight, the volcanic activity decreased on Tuesday morning, according to the IMO. This is not an indication of the duration of the eruption, but rather a sign that the eruption is stabilizing.

Civil protection warned on local Icelandic television that the eruption was not a tourist attraction. In recent years, eruptions in the area have attracted almost 680,000 visitors, according to estimates by the country's tourism authority.

On November 11, 2023, 4,000 people were evacuated from Grindavik. The small town close to the volcano has a fishing port around 40 kilometers from Reykjavik. The residents had to leave after scientists discovered that a tunnel of magma was moving beneath them.

Since November, a series of small earthquakes — sometimes hundreds per day — had damaged roads and buildings around the small town. Since then, residents have only been allowed to visit their homes at certain times of the day.