Iceland volcano eruption calms as lava flow eases

An Icelandic volcano that erupted and spewed lava into the sky overnight near a power plant was less active Tuesday evening, after weeks of intense seismic activity southwest of Reykjavik.

The eruption, only three kilometres (1.8 miles) from the evacuated fishing port of Grindavik on the Reykjanes peninsula, began Monday at around 10:17 pm (2217 GMT) after a "swarm" of small tremors, the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said.

The volcano opened a fissure in the ground about four kilometres long, with the southern end just three kilometres from Grindavik.

In an update on Tuesday at 1830 GMT, the IMO said the eruption continued to weaken.

"New aerial images of the area show that there are now three vents erupting southeast of Stora-Skogfell, down from the previous five," the meteorological office said, but added that it anticipated further lava flows along the fissure.

Amid weeks of warnings from scientists, the authorities built reinforcements around the Svartsengi geothermal plant, which is just two kilometres from the eruption.

It supplies electricity and water to 30,000 people on the peninsula.

"The land in Svartsengi subsided more than five centimetres," the IMO said in its 1830 GMT update.

"Previously, the land had risen there by about 35 centimetres since the formation of the magma channel on November 10," it added.

Live-streamed footage of the eruption showed glowing orange jets of lava spewing from a gash in the ground, surrounded by billowing clouds of red smoke against the dark winter sky.

In December, the sun rises around 11:00 am in the area just south of the Arctic Circle, and sets around 3:00 pm.

For weeks, experts had been anticipating an eruption in the area some 40...