Icelandic town evacuated over risk of possible volcanic eruption

Residents of a fishing town in southwestern Iceland left their homes Saturday after increasing concern about a potential volcanic eruption caused civil defense authorities to declare a state of emergency in the region.

Police decided to evacuate Grindavik after recent seismic activity in the area moved south toward the town, and monitoring indicated that a corridor of magma, or semi-molten rock, now extends under the community, Iceland's Meteorological Office said. The town of 3,400 is on the Reykjanes Peninsula, about 31 miles southwest of the capital, Reykjavik.

The meteorological office wrote Saturday there was a "significant likelihood of a volcanic eruption in the coming days," but that the exact site of a possible eruption was unknown.