GRINDAVIK, Iceland (AP) - Lava continued to spurt from a volcano in southwestern Iceland on Thursday but the activity had calmed significantly from when it erupted a day earlier.
Lava continues to flow from Iceland volcano but not at powerful level as eruption
GRINDAVIK, Iceland (AP) - Lava continued to spurt from a volcano in southwestern Iceland on Thursday but the activity had calmed significantly from when it erupted a day earlier.
The eruption Wednesday was the fifth and most powerful since the volcanic system near Grindavik reawakened in December after 800 years, gushing record levels of lava as its fissure grew to 3.5 kilometers (2.1 miles) in length.
Volcanologist Dave McGarvie calculated that the amount of lava initially flowing from the crater could have buried Wembley Stadium in London, which seats 90,000 people, under 15 meters (49 feet) of lava every minute.
"These jets of magma are reaching like 50 meters (165 feet), into the atmosphere," said McGarvie, an honorary researcher at Lancaster University. "That just immediately strikes me as a powerful eruption. And that was my first impression … .Then some numbers came out, estimating how much was coming out per minute or per second and it was, 'wow.'"