Deutsche Welle (English edition)
Iceland halts air travel following volcanic eruption
A volcano in southwest Iceland has erupted as anticipated following thousands of smaller earthquakes in the area in recent weeks.
A long-dormant volcano in southwest Iceland erupted on Friday some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the capital Reykjavik, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said.
Local media reported inbound and outgoing air traffic had been halted from Keflavik International Airport, the country's largest.
The eruption followed thousands of smaller earthquakes in the area in recent weeks, with officials bracing for an eruption as a result.
'Color code red'
The Meteorological Office reported the volcanic eruption in the Fagradals Mountain, declaring "flight color code is red but very little turbulence is seen on seismometers."
The fissure caused by the eruption was around 200 meters (roughly 650 feet) long, the national weather service said on Twitter.
Authorities urged people to avoid the eruption site.
"We ask people to stay calm and not under any circumstances go close to the eruption site or on Reykjanesbraut. First responders need to be able to drive freely to assess the situation. Scientists are working on assessing the eruption," police said.
Iceland's Minister of Justice Aslaug Arna Sigurbjornsdottir shared an image of the eruption showing a night sky glowing bright red.
Two flights were inbound to the Keflavik International Airport.
A Coast Guard helicopter was sent to the scene to investigate the volcanic eruption, according to local media reports.
An expected eruption
The Grindavik and the peninsula's Krysuvik volcanic system, a largely uninhabited zone that includes Mount Keilir, recorded at least 40,000 tremors as hefty as magnitude 5.7 since February 24.
Experts had expected the eruption of lava was unlikely to resemble the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which generated a massive ash cloud, disrupting around 900,000 flights across Europe.
The region is known to experience effusive eruptions, where lava flows out of the ground, rather than explosive ones, in which ash clouds burst high into the sky.
The Krysuvik volcanic system has been inactive for almost 900 years, according to the Meteorological Office. The last eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula dates back 781 years.