A volcano erupted early Sunday in southwestern Iceland, forcing residents of a nearby fishing town to evacuate for the second time in a month.
Residents of Grindavik, a town 40 kilometers southwest of the capital Reykjavik, were evacuated overnight ahead of the seismic activity and no one was at risk as molten rock began spewing from the ground, authorities said.
“Infrastructure may be under threat, but lives are not,” Icelandic President Gudni Johannesson wrote to X.
Footage shared online showed huge chunks of bright orange, semi-molten rock popping out of cracks in the ground.
The eruption began just before 8 a.m. just north of Grindavik, a popular tourist town known for its Blue Lagoon.
Residents of Grindavik were evacuated from their homes in November after a series of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, forcing them to leave their homes for six weeks.
The nearby Blue Lagoon Geothermal Spa, a popular tourist attraction listed as one of National Geographic's 25 Wonders of the World, was also temporarily closed.
In response, authorities erected a barrier around the volcano in hopes of preventing lava from reaching the area, but this latest eruption has already breached the defensive structures.
“According to the first images from a coast guard surveillance flight, cracks have opened on both sides of the defense structure where construction has begun north of Grindavik,” the Icelandic Meteorological Office IMO said in a statement.
According to IMO, the lava flowing toward the town reached within 400 feet.
This is the second volcanic eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland in less than a month, and the fifth since 2021.
Located above a volcanic hotspot, Iceland sees eruptions on average every four to five years.
On the other side of the world, Indonesia's Mount Marapi erupted again on Sunday, forcing at least 100 residents to evacuate as smoke and ash spewed 4,265 feet into the air, followed by a rain of ash.
Marapi province, known for its sudden and unpredictable eruptions, on Wednesday raised its threat level from Level 2 to Level 3, the second-highest level.
An eruption in early December spewed a thick column of ash more than 9,800 feet, killing 24 climbers and injuring several others caught in the sudden eruption over the weekend.
No casualties were reported Sunday.
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