YET another volcanic eruption shook Iceland on May 29, 2024 — with huge fountains of lava blasted into the sky. Following the fifth eruption in recent months , here's everything you need to know about travelling to Iceland this year. A state of emergency has been called after a volcano in Iceland erupted — the fifth time it has happened in three months.
On May 29, 2024, lava spewed into the air from the Sundhnúkur crater row. The eruption site is situated just a few kilometres northeast of Grindavik, a coastal town with a population of 3,800 people, which has been evacuated. The Met Office said lava was shooting about 50 metres into the sky from a fissure about one kilometre long.
Iceland’s Meteorological Office (IMO) said: "Intense seismic activity is ongoing on the Sundhnúkur crater row. “A magma propagation might be starting or has started, and a volcanic eruption could follow." This is not a tourist attraction and you must watch it from a great distance Grindavik was previously evacuated in November 2023 after a series of earthquakes, which opened large cracks in the ground between the town and Sýlingarfell — a small mountain located to the north.
Before all of the recent eruptions, the Svartsengi volcanic system north of Grindavik had been dormant for roughly 780 years. Icelandic authorities also declared a state of emergency during the eruption in November after hundreds of small earthquakes shook the Reykjanes Peninsula — Iceland’s most populated re.
