Iceland volcano erupts for second time as semi-molten rock spews toward nearby town

Lava is flowing through the town of Grindavik for the second time in less than a month

A volcano erupted in southwestern Iceland on Sunday morning, sending semi-molten rock spewing into a nearby settlement and setting at least one home on fire.

The community was evacuated overnight, Iceland's RUV television reported.

It is the second major eruption by the volcano in less than a month, and comes after a swarm of earthquakes near the town of Grindavik, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said.

Lava from an erupting volcano in Iceland consuming a building near the town of Grindavik, Iceland. Credit: LIVEFROMICELAND.IS / AP

“We just watch it on the cameras and there’s really nothing else we can do,” resident Reynir Berg Jónsson, told Iceland’s RUV television.

Residents of Grindavik were previously evacuated from their homes in November and had to stay away from the town for six weeks following a series of earthquakes and an eventual volcanic eruption.

They were allowed to return on December 22.

People watch from the north as the volcano erupts near Grindavík, Iceland. Credit: AP

Grindavik is a town of 3,800 people about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital. 

Iceland, which sits above a volcanic hot spot in the North Atlantic, averages an eruption every four to five years.

The most disruptive in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed huge clouds of ash into the atmosphere and led to widespread airspace closures over Europe.

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