<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">&nbsp;A volcano erupted in southwest Iceland today, posing an immediate <b>threat to a nearby fishing town that had been evacuated over fears of an outbreak, authorities said.</b></span><b><br></b></div><div><br></div><div>Early morning live streams from the site showed fountains of molten rock spewing from fissures in the ground, the bright orange lava flow glowing against the dark sky.</div><div><br></div><div>The eruption began north of the town of Grindavik, which was evacuated yesterday for a second time over fears that an outbreak was imminent amid a swarm of seismic activity, authorities said.</div><div><br></div><div>Iceland in recent weeks sought to build barriers of earth and rock to prevent lava from reaching Grindavik, but the latest eruption appeared to have penetrated the defences.</div><div><br></div><div>“According to the first images from the coast guard’s surveillance flight, a crack has opened on both sides of the defences that have begun to be built north of Grindavik,” the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said in a statement.</div><div><br></div><div>“Lava is now flowing towards Grindavik. Based on measurements from the coast guard’s helicopter, the perimeter is now about 450m from the northernmost houses in the town,” it added.</div><div><br></div><div>It was the second volcanic eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland in less than one month and the fifth outbreak since 2021.</div><div><br></div><div>Last month, an eruption started in the Svartsengi volcanic system on Dec 18 following the complete evacuation of Grindavik’s 4,000 residents and the closing of the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, a popular tourist spot.</div><div><br></div><div>More than 100 Grindavik residents had returned in recent weeks before yesterday’s renewed evacuation order, according to local authorities.</div><div><br></div><div>Iceland’s civil protection agency today said it had raised its alert level to ’emergency’, the highest on a three-level scale, signaling an event had begun that could cause harm to people, communities, property or the environment.</div><div><br></div><div>Lying between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, two of the largest on the planet, Iceland is a seismic and volcanic hot spot as the two plates move in opposite directions. - Reuters</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>