Icelandic President Gudni Johannesson describes the disaster as a “black day” for the country, although no fatalities were reported.
A volcano has erupted in Iceland, sending flows of molten lava to the outskirts of a small fishing village and engulfing houses.
At least three houses were set on fire on Sunday when lava reached the edge of Grindavik harbour, according to live images broadcast on public television.
There were no reports of deaths or injuries and airline flights were not affected.
Iceland's president, Gudni Johannesson, described the disaster as a “black day” for his country.
“There are no lives in danger, although the infrastructure may be threatened,” Johannesson said on the social network X.
The eruption occurred shortly before 8 a.m. local time (8:00 GMT) after local authorities evacuated the city's 4,000 residents following a series of small earthquakes, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said.
A crack that opened in the ground about 450 meters (500 yards) from Grindavik on Sunday morning had become a fissure measuring about 900 meters (984 yards) long by 6:45 p.m., the Bureau said. Meteorological.
A second fissure opened around noon on the outskirts of the city, and by nightfall it measured about 100 meters (109 yards), according to the office.
It is the second time the volcano southwest of the capital Reykjavik has erupted in less than a month and the North Atlantic nation's fifth volcanic eruption in less than three years.
Grindavik was evacuated in November after large cracks opened in the ground before an eruption on December 18.
Before Sunday's eruption, emergency workers had been building defensive walls around the city, to which residents had returned on December 22, but had not completed work on the barriers.
Local resident Sveinn Ari Gudjonsson described the disaster as “tragic” for the close-knit community, which he compared to a family.
“It's unreal, it's like watching a movie,” Gudjonsson, 55, told the AFP news agency.
Home to about 370,000 people and located about 1,300 kilometers (807 miles) northwest of the United Kingdom, Iceland is home to more than 30 active volcanoes, making the northern European island a prime destination for tourism. volcanoes.
