Dramatic visuals of the volcanic eruption near Iceland airport

A volcano in southwest Iceland began erupting on Wednesday, the country’s meteorological authorities said - just eight months after its last eruption officially ended.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office urged people not to go near the Fagradalsfjall volcano, which is located some 32 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of the capital, Reykjavik.

The eruption in an uninhabited valley is not far from Keflavik Airport, Iceland’s international air traffic hub.

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The airport remained open and no flights were disrupted.

Video footage from the site showed magma spewing from a narrow fissure about 100 to 200 meters (109 to 218 yards) long over a field of lava from last year’s eruption, the first on the Reykjanes Peninsula in almost 800 years.

Scientists had anticipated an eruption somewhere on the peninsula after a series of earthquakes over the past week indicated volcanic activity close to the crust.

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