Early on Sunday, a new volcanic eruption began outside the Icelandic town of Grindavik, prompting residents to evacuate. Lava began flowing from existing and newly opened cracks in a fissure, as emergency crews worked to complete a protective wall of dirt and rock, hoping to direct the flow away from the town’s center. Several houses in Grindavik were burned and crushed before the flow of lava paused once again.
Lava Flows Into an Icelandic Town
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![An aerial view of a coastal Icelandic town with an erupting volcanic fissure a short distance inland, just uphill from its houses]()
Read moreGas, steam, and smoke rise above flowing lava during a volcanic eruption on the outskirts of the evacuated town of Grindavik, in western Iceland, on January 14, 2024. #
Icelandic Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management / AFP / Getty -
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![Lava erupts in a line of jets emanating from a fissure, spilling out and flowing onto the landscape.]()
Read moreLava flows from a volcanic fissure in Grindavik, Iceland, on January 14, 2024. #
Icelandic Coast Guard / Reuters -
![An aerial view of several excavators and other construction equipment being used to build a long berm of dirt, as lava flows toward the scene.]()
Read moreEmergency personnel use construction equipment to build a protective wall in order to prevent flowing lava from reaching the center of Grindavik on January 14, 2024. #
Halldor Kolbeins / AFP / Getty -
![Several people watch as others use excavators to finish a dirt berm.]()
Read moreEmergency crews use excavators to fill in the last gap in a protective wall outside Grindavik on January 14, 2024. #
Halldor Kolbeins / AFP / Getty -
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![An aerial view of lava flowing toward a small town]()
Read moreLava flows toward Grindavik on January 14, 2024. #
Icelandic Coast Guard / Reuters -
![Lava flows into several houses, setting them on fire.]()
Read moreLava flows from a volcano as houses burn in Grindavik on January 14, 2024, in this screen grab obtained from a social-media video. #
Bjorn Steinbekk (@bsteinbekk ) / via Instagram, via Reuters -
![Lava flows into several houses, setting them on fire.]()
Read moreHouses burn as lava flows into a neighborhood in Grindavik on January 14, 2024. #
Bjorn Steinbekk (@bsteinbekk ) / Instagram / Reuters -
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![An aerial view of an active volcanic fissure near a town]()
Read moreAn aerial view of the active fissure outside Grindavik on January 14, 2024 #
Icelandic Coast Guard / Reuters -
![A helicopter flies past rising steam, gas, and smoke that glows against a dark sky, lit from below by erupting lava]()
Read moreA helicopter flies near the active eruption in Grindavik on January 14, 2024. #
Icelandic Coast Guard / Reuters -
![Jets of lava in the near distance, beyond a group of houses]()
Read moreJets of lava are seen just north of Grindavik on January 14, 2024. #
Micah Garen / Getty -
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![Lava flows across a broad landscape near residential buildings.]()
Read moreLava flows near residential buildings in Grindavik after an eruption on January 14, 2024. #
Halldor Kolbeins / AFP / Getty -
![An aerial view of the dark rocks of a cooling lava field]()
Read moreAn aerial view of the cooling lava field just outside Grindavik on January 15, 2024 #
Marco Di Marco / AP -
![An aerial view of a cooling lava flow amid a residential area, with several burned houses]()
Read moreLava cools, its advance stalled after burning and crushing several houses in Grindavik, seen on January 15, 2024. #
Marco Di Marco / AP -
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![A truck drives on a road past lava erupting in the distance.]()
Read moreA truck drives past as lava flows from the Fagradalsfjall volcano, north of Grindavik, on January 15, 2024. #
Marco Di Marco / AP -
![Two people stand on a flat landscape, silhouetted in front of a plume of volcanic gas, steam, and smoke.]()
Read moreBillows of volcanic gas, steam, and smoke appear on the outskirts of the southwestern Icelandic town of Grindavik after a volcanic eruption, on January 14, 2024. #
Halldor Kolbeins / AFP / Getty
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