Hikers Scramble as New Fissure Opens Up at Icelandic Volcano
Voice of America
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND - Steam and lava spurted Monday from a new fissure at an Icelandic volcano that began erupting last month, prompting the evacuation of hundreds of hikers who had come to see the spectacle.
The new fissure, first spotted by a sightseeing helicopter, was about 500 meters (550 yards) long and about a kilometer (around a half-mile) from the original eruption site in the Geldinga Valley. The Icelandic Department of Emergency Management announced an immediate evacuation of the area. It said there was no imminent danger to life because of the site’s distance from popular hiking paths. The Icelandic Meteorological Office said the new volcanic activity wasn’t expected to affect traffic at nearby Keflavik Airport.
FILE - Part of the temples of Baalbek, a UNESCO world heritage site in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, illuminated in blue light, Oct. 24, 2015. FILE - This picture shows closed shops on an empty street in the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek on Oct. 19, 2024. FILE - People walk near the Roman ruins of Baalbek, Lebanon, Jan. 5, 2024. FILE - A man sits amidst the rubble at a site damaged in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on the town of Al-Ain in the Baalbek region, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Lebanon, Nov. 6, 2024.
Dr. Jaafar al Jotheri, shown here Nov. 10, 2024, holds satellite images and explores the site of the Battle of al-Qadisiyah, which was fought in Mesopotamia -- present-day Iraq -- in the 630s AD. A desert area with scattered plots of agricultural land with features that closely matched the description of the al-Qadisiyah battle site described in historic texts, Nov. 10, 2024.
FILE - This colorized electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 2024 shows mpox virus particles, orange, found within infected cells, green. (NIAID via AP)
Activists protest in a demonstration at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit on Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Jake Paul, left, fights Mike Tyson during their heavyweight boxing match on Nov. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas.
Climate activists stage a protest inside the COP29 venue to demand a phase out of fossil fuels during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku on Nov. 15, 2024.
A motorist drives past the CHS oil refinery Sept. 28, 2024, in McPherson, Kan. Pumpjacks operate in a milo field, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, near Hays, Kan.
FILE - Tuvalu, shown in this undated photo, is among Pacific atoll islands threatened with rising sea levels, according to a World Bank study released on Nov. 14, 2024. (Rising Nations Initiative via AP)
FILE - A pumpjack operates at dawn in a pasture, Sept. 30, 2024, near Hays, Kan.
Divers from National Geographic Pristine Seas measure the world’s largest coral colony in the Solomon Islands.
Samantha Harvey poses with the trophy and her book "Orbital" after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Nov. 12, 2024.