REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Iceland’s president said the country is battling “tremendous forces of nature,” after molten lava from a volcano in the island’s southwest consumed several houses in the evacuated town of Grindavik.
Johannesson said in a televised address late Sunday that “a daunting period of upheaval has begun on the Reykjanes peninsula,” where a long-dormant volcanic system has awakened.
A volcano on the peninsula erupted for the second time in less than a month on Sunday morning.
Authorities had ordered residents to leave the fishing town of Grindavik hours earlier as a swarm of small earthquakes indicated an imminent eruption.
Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesThe volcano eventually erupted on Dec. 18, sending lava flowing away from Grindavik.
Persons:
—, “, Gudni Th, Johannesson, Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, Gudjon Helgason
Organizations:
Authorities, Keflavík
Locations:
REYKJAVIK, Iceland, Grindavik, ”, Reykjavik