Icelandic volcano erupts, lighting up night sky near Reykjavik

A volcano erupted just 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Iceland's capital Reykjavik on March 19, with red lava spewing out of the ground and a crimson glow lighting up the night sky.

Streams of red lava could be seen flowing out of a fissure in the ground in Geldingadalur, close to Mount Fagradalsfjall on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwestern Iceland, in footage filmed by a coast guard helicopter.

While Iceland's Keflavik International Airport and the small fishing port of Grindavik are just a few kilometers away, the area is uninhabited and the eruption was not expected to present any danger.

"The eruption began at Fagradalsfjall in Geldingadalur at about 2045 GMT tonight. The eruption is considered a small one and the eruption fissure is about 500-700 meters (1640-2300 feet) long. The lava is less than 1 square kilometer (0.4 square miles) in size," the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO), which monitors seismic activity, said in a statement.

"There is little eruption activity in the area."

The eruption site is in a valley, about 4.7 kilometers inland from the southern coast of the peninsula.

Police and coast guard officials raced to the scene, but the public has been advised to stay away and the main road from the capital region to Keflavik airport was temporarily closed on Friday.

There were no reports of ash fall, although tephra - solidified magma rock fragments - and gas emissions were to be expected.

Police ordered residents living east of the volcano to close their windows and stay indoors due to the risk of possible gas pollution carried by the wind.

Gas emissions - especially sulphur dioxide - can be elevated in the immediate vicinity of a volcanic eruption, and may pose a danger to...