Iceland Volcano Update As Billions of Gallons of Magma Starts To Erupt

A fresh eruption on Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula has begun releasing molten rock from an underground dike containing billions of gallons of magma.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office said that the eruption began around 6 a.m. local time (1 a.m. ET) on Thursday morning, with lava fountains reaching heights of approximately 260 feet, sending a smoke plume nearly two miles into the sky.

The smoke plume and glow of fresh lava were visible from miles around, including from the capital, Reykjavík, which sits on the northern side of the peninsula, pictures show.

It is the third time in as many months that the dike has erupted: the first occurred in mid-December, after more than a month of seismic activity in the region, while the second took place on January 14.

The Icelandic Met Office said on Monday that the magma in the underground chamber was estimated to have reached nine million cubic meters (around 2.4 billion gallons)—a similar amount to what had built up prior to the January eruption.

"Lava flows mostly towards [the] west at the moment and the flow seems to be slightly less than at the start of the December 18 eruption," when 100-200 cubic meters (26,400-52,800 gallons) of lava were discharged per second, the agency noted on Thursday.

The approximately 9.3-mile-long vertical dike of magma—which runs northeast to southwest—formed in a weak point in the Earth's crust in November, and is thought to be fed by a horizontal intrusion causing crustal uplift around the nearby geothermal power plant at Svartsengi.

When an eruption initially occurred, lava spread across an uninhabited region of the peninsula, raising hopes of a brief reprieve from volcanic activity that would allow residents of the nearby coastal fishing town of Grindavík to return to their homes following their evacuation.

However, the second eruption breached earth walls and channels built around the town, destroying properties.

Each of the eruptions have released pressure from the vertical dike, and led to a reduction in crustal uplift around Svartsengi. But the pressure from magma pushing into the Earth's crust has then risen again, propagating magma into the dike, and building until another eruption occurs.

Ben Edwards, an American volcanologist who has visited the Reykjanes Peninsula multiple times, previously told Newsweek that the December 18 eruption could mark the start of over a century of volcanic activity in the region.

His remarks came after Haraldur Sigurdsson, an emeritus professor of geophysics at the University of Rhode Island and a leading Icelandic volcanologist, told Newsweek that after a dormant period, the seismic activity could mark the start of an "intense" period of "rifting and volcanism" on the peninsula.

A sudden shift in the North American tectonic plate away from the Eurasian plate is thought to have allowed magma to suddenly push upward through a rift that runs between them under Iceland, creating the swell in the Earth's crust.

Both he and Edwards noted that much of Iceland's infrastructure is located in the region, as is Reykjavík.

Around 6 a.m. ET on Thursday, officials said lava from the latest eruption was around three hours from a water pipe that serves the entire peninsula, state broadcaster RUV reported. Emergency defenses were being built to protect it.