Volcanic eruption seen from space. A river of lava flows through snowy areas
On February 8, a volcano in Iceland erupted quite unexpectedly. It turns out that the eruption was also visible from space. The photos of the phenomenon were taken by the Sentinel-2 satellite.
At the beginning of February, a volcano erupted in Iceland for the third time in just three months. Residents of the nearby town of Grindavik, where one of the volcanic fissures opened, were evacuated. Fortunately, this time the eruption was relatively short and did not have such unpleasant consequences as before. However, it was possible to see it from space. The photos taken by satellite are impressive.
Volcanic eruption seen from space
A satellite image shows what the latest eruption looked like on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland. The photo shows a river of lava flowing through the snow-covered vast area of the island. At the same time, it perfectly illustrates the true scale of the eruption.
The photo was taken by the European Union's Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite. It was taken just 10 hours after the eruption on February 8. It shows how lava quickly seeped into the frozen landscape, moving up to 2.5 miles (4.5 km) west. According to reports from local authorities, it destroyed pipes providing hot water to 20,000 people.
Another eruption in Iceland
On February 8, around 5:30 a.m. local time, a 3-kilometer-long volcanic fissure opened in Iceland, just 4 kilometers north of Grindavik. At the time of the eruption, the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) estimated that nine million cubic meters of magma had accumulated in the volcanic chamber. When the pressure finally became too much and the ground cracked, lava flowed out.
The impressive satellite image shows a vast area covered with still glowing lava flows.
Previous eruptions on the Reykjanes Peninsula sent lava flows south, dangerously approaching Grindavik and a nearby power plant. In January, lava from the most dangerous eruption reached the outskirts of the city and destroyed at least three houses.
There have been five eruptions in Iceland since August 2022, three of which have occurred since December.
