COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – A volcano in Iceland that has been spewing lava into the sky since it erupted last Friday could remain spectacular for years and potentially become a new tourist attraction on the island known for its natural wonders.
Thousands of Icelanders have flocked to the site of the eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula, some 30 kilometers southwest of the capital, hoping to be impressed by the rare lava fountains and even prepare a meal on the blazing crust of magma.
Drone footage filmed over the crater shows the molten lava bubbling and spurting and flowing down the sides of the volcano.
“It’s a perfect tourist eruption,” volcanology professor at the University of Iceland, Thorvaldur Thordarson, told Reuters.
“With the caveat, though, don’t go too close.”
To cope with the large number of visitors, authorities in Iceland have set up a 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) hiking trail to the site of the eruption and are patrolling the area to prevent spectators from venturing into dangerous areas polluted by volcanic gases.
“People walked into the area from many different directions,” Agust Gunnar Gylfason, project manager in the Civil Protection and Emergency Management division, told Reuters.
Gylfason estimated that more than 10,000 people had come to the site since Friday night, some of whom had to be rescued due to the harsh weather and traveling without adequate food or appropriate clothing.
Since the first eruption, the lava has been steadily seeping out of the volcano at a rate of 5 to 10 cubic meters per second, Thordarson said, a current strong enough to keep the lava from solidifying and closing the canyon. For now.
“If it drops below three cubic meters, chances are the eruption will stop,” Thordarson said.
He compared the lava flow to that of the Pu’u ‘O’o eruption in Hawaii, which started in 1983 and continued to erupt for 35 years.
“It could end tomorrow or it could still be a few decades from now.”
Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Editing by Alexandra Hudson