Iceland’s Newest Volcanic Eruption Declared Over

According to a statement by Iceland’s Meteorological Office published on Wednesday, the volcanic eruption on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula is officially over as no activity has been observed for over one week.

“Ten days have passed since activity was last measured in the Litli-Hrutur crater. There is no longer any deformation observed in the area and seismic activity has decreased considerably,” writes the IMO.

The volcanic eruption started on July 10, 2023 around 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Iceland’s capital Reykjavik.

The area had not experienced an eruption since the 13th century when a volcano erupted for 30 years. In March 2021, after weeks of seismic activity with well over 50,000 earthquakes, a fissure spewing lava opened in the ground, followed soon by others. In September 2021 the eruption ceased activity as suddenly as it began. And then it erupted again in August 2022. A new 300-meter-long fissure produced 20 to 30-meter-high lava fountains clearly visible in the capital Reykjavik.

Hundreds of thousands people hiked through the uninhabited Geldingadalur valley to take pictures of the spectacular lava fountains.

These fissure eruptions follow the Fagradalsfjall fissure zone — a system of parallel faults overlying a 5-kilometer thick magmatic dike. Chemical analysis showed that the magma in this reservoir is derived directly from melting mantle rocks at a depth of 17 to 20 kilometers, resulting in a silica-undersaturated basaltic rock.

Iceland’s volcanoes erupt with lava fountains and lava flows, only rarely with explosions, as the basaltic lava has a low viscosity. The low viscosity typically allows volcanic gases to escape without generating explosive disintegrations.

Iceland has 33 volcanic systems currently considered active and on average has a volcanic eruption every five years.

Authorities are warning people to be careful when visiting the area. The newly formed lava is still very hot. In some areas only a thin crust has formed over the cooling lava flows with the interior still being extremely hot. The edges of the newly formed rock formations can be unstable and large pieces of debris can fall. Gases escaping from the lava can collect in depressions posing the risk of suffocation.

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