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Lava Spews From Crater During Latest Eruption Near Grindavik

A Civil Protection emergency level was activated after a volcanic fissure erupted at the Sundhnukur crater row on Tuesday, April 1, prompting the evacuation of the town of Grindavik, on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula, according to news reports.The volcanic activity also prompted the temporary closure of the country’s famed Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa popular with tourists located about five kilometers (three miles) from Grindavik.In an update on Tuesday evening, the Icelandic Met Office said volcanic activity had decreased significantly while seismic activity continued.According to RUV, Iceland’s public broadcasting service, rescue workers were threatened with a shotgun while carrying out evacuation efforts in Grindavik on Tuesday morning, prompting condemnation from Iceland’s justice ministry and the country’s main search-and-rescue organization.Benedikt Ofeigsson, from the Icelandic Meteorological Office, said they were “not currently seeing signs pointing to an imminent eruption” following Tuesday’s event, RUV reported. “I can’t say it won’t erupt at the northern end, but there are no strong indications at the moment.”Mesmerising drone footage captured by Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove shows what he described as “one of the last bubbling craters” from the Sundhnukur crater row.“WHAT A DAY!” Van Nieuwenhove wrote to Instagram. “How INCREDIBLE that Grindavik has yet again been spared!”“I have to admit that this morning, I was not optimistic seeing how things began developing but once it became clear it wasn’t going to engulf the town, I felt incredibly relieved. It is absolutely remarkable that after eight eruptions, Grindavik is still standing!” Credit: Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove via Storyful