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A volcanoerupting on the Reykjanes peninsulain Iceland has open up a 2.5 - mile - tenacious ( 4 kilometers ) scissure that come out to have stabilized and is spewing a " curtain " of lava , expert say .
The eructation set about on Monday ( Dec. 18 ) at 10:17 p.m. local time ( 5:17 p.m. EST Eastern Time ) follow an hour - long earthquake swarm . The northerly end of the fissure is located just east of Stóra - Skógfell and its southern tip extends to a period just east of Sundhnúk , which sits less than 2 miles aside from Grindavík , the Icelandic Met Office ( IMO ) enjoin in a translatedstatementon Tuesday ( Dec. 19 ) .
Photo taken directly to the south of the fissure on board the helicopter of the Norwegian Coast Guard. Grindavík in the distance.
" The power of the bam that started about four hours ago seems to be decreasing , " IMO representative write in the affirmation . " The fact that the action is already reducing is not an meter reading of how long the eruption will last , but rather that the eruption is reach equilibrium . This trend has been see at the beginning of all the eruptions on the Reykjanes Peninsula in recent twelvemonth . "
The eruption is occurring all along the fissure , with the highest level of activity recorded around the center of the quip , in an area mark " zone 3 " and gloss orange on a hazard assessment map first publish on Dec. 8 .
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An Icelandic hazard assessment map posted on Dec. 8 showing what is now the central zone of the erupting volcano fissure (in orange).
show seismic bodily function was moving southwards in the early minute of Tuesday , accord to the financial statement , show the extravasation may creep into the small sportfishing town of Grindavík , whichwas evacuated on Nov. 10 .
" The measured activity is just east of the magma burrow that mould on Nov. 10 , " representative wrote at 2:50 a.m. local time ( 9:50 p.m. EST ) . " This developing of the seismic activity , together with measurements from GPS devices , is an indication that the magma is move southwest and the outbreak could extend in the direction of Grindavík . "
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David Pyle , a professor of Earth science at the University of Oxford in the U.K. , said the earthquakes have now die down , evoke the cranny has stabilized with a " curtain " of magma erupting from it .
" The eruption charge per unit is likely to be in the region of a few hundred three-dimensional m of lava per second — enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool in about 20 instant , " Pyle told Live Science in an electronic mail . " The duration of the fissure may be an indication of how much magma had been capable to cumulate in the encrustation over the past few weeks . "
It ’s potential the eruption will continue for some days , Pyle articulate .
The activity on the Reykjanes peninsula isfollowing a know patternthat will likely trigger more eruptions in the coming month and years . " We are still learning what the ' thresholds ' are between dull magma accumulation in the Earth’s crust and rapid episodes of dyke formation , and likely eruptions , " Pyle say .
IMO spokesperson said in the argument that Iceland ’s National Weather Service will proceed to supervise the development of the activity at the scissure and maintains verbatim tangency with responders and polite Defense Department in the area .
