Volcano erupts in southwestern Iceland after a nearby town and spa are evacuated

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GRINDAVIK, Iceland (AP) — A volcano in southwestern Iceland that has erupted repeatedly for more than a year again belched lava and smoke into the air on Tuesday, just hours after authorities evacuated the few remaining residents of a nearby fishing village.

The eruption began at 9:45 a.m. local time (0945 GMT), triggering warning sirens in the town of Grindavik where webcams showed molten rock spewing toward the community. It had subsided by late afternoon, though the volcano was still active, Iceland's Met Office said.

Police and civil defense officials evacuated Grindavik and the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, one of Iceland’s biggest tourist attractions, after an early morning earthquake swarm suggested an eruption was imminent.

The community, located on the Reykjanes Peninsula, was largely evacuated in November 2023 when the volcano came to life after lying dormant for some 800 years.

About 40 homes were evacuated on Tuesday, though police reported that some residents refused to leave their homes.

“Those individuals who choose to remain in the town don't seem to consider that I have 50 people involved in this operation, some of whom are volunteers,” Úlfar Lúðvíksson, police commissioner in South Iceland, told local broadcaster RUV. “I would ask that more consideration be shown towards civil defense.”

Iceland sits above a volcanic hot spot in the North Atlantic. The most disruptive incident in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed clouds of ash into the atmosphere and disrupted trans-Atlantic air travel for months.

Flights were not affected by Tuesday's eruption.