Dramatic NASA images show lava flows near Iceland's Blue Lagoon

A fiery lava flow flowing near Iceland’s Blue Lagoon was captured in a stunning new satellite image released by NASA on Wednesday (November 27).

Photos taken by NASA’s Landsat 9 satellite show lava flowing from a fissure in the Sundhnúkur crater series on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula. The infrared light from the eruption, captured by the Suomi NPP satellite, appears brighter than the light from Iceland’s nearby capital Reykjavík.

The eruption that caused the rift began on November 20 and was heralded by a series of earthquakes. According to NASA, this is the seventh eruption in the geologically active region in less than a year.

“The lava flowed east and west from the fissure, rather than toward the city of Grindavík,” NASA’s Earth Observatory, which released the image, said in a statement. “The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service reported that the recent event forced the evacuation of some residents of the city and the Blue Lagoon Resort, a geothermal health resort. A tongue of lava poured over the spa’s parking lot and enveloped a small service building located there.”

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The eruption, which came from a 1.8-mile (2.9-kilometer) crack in the earth near the peak of Stóra Skógfell, led to the evacuation of the famous Blue Lagoon resort and Grindavík’s 3,800 residents.

Although Iceland is known for its dramatic lava flows, the majority of volcanic activity over the past 800 years has occurred in the sparsely populated northern and eastern regions of the island. However, this eruption occurred in western Iceland, which includes Reykjavik, and is much more densely populated.

In this infrared image from NASA's Suomi NPP satellite, the gap shines brighter than nearby Reykjavík.

In this infrared image from NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite, the gap shines brighter than nearby Reykjavík. (Image credit: NASA)

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Although this is a concern, it is very unlikely that the volcano in western Iceland will erupt violently because the volcano is formed by rift activity – a process in which the Earth is pulled apart by the diverging plates of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

This process causes lava to slowly seep out of the Earth’s mantle rather than violently erupting from a central vent.

“As of November 26, 2024, the Blue Lagoon was closed to the public, but lava movement toward the spa had slowed,” NASA wrote. According to the Icelandic Meteorological Office, the eruption is still ongoing but has slowed since it first appeared.

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