A powerful volcanic eruption has begun in Iceland: authorities are evacuating people (video).

In Iceland, a volcanic eruption of Sundhnukur has begun near the town of Grindavik. This was reported by vedur.is, citing Einar Sven Jonsson, a representative of the Grindavik fire department.

It is reported that the adjacent area has been evacuated. The fissure from which magma is erupting has a length of 3.9 km. The volcanic lava is moving at a speed of 6 km/h. It is assumed that the peak of the eruption will occur within a few hours.

«Seismic activity began at 20:48 (23:48 Kyiv time). Shortly after that, signs of deformation appeared, and a lava flow started. Approximately half an hour later, at 21:26 (00:26 Kyiv time), the eruption began directly from the eastern side of Sundhnukur,» said Benedict Offeigson, a representative of the meteorological office.

The RUV channel notes that «the lava is not flowing toward Grindavik,» but stormy weather is contributing to the spread of smoke and gases from the eruption over the city and the sea. The lava flow continues to move at a speed of 2 km/h to the northwest. Professor of geophysics Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, who flew over the eruption zone in a coast guard helicopter, told RUV that a lot can happen in the near future, specialists are continuing to observe, and how far the lava will go is still unclear.

In Russia, an earthquake occurred, and a volcanic eruption began near the coast of Kamchatka. An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 was registered near the coast of Kamchatka, 108 km from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which is the administrative center of Kamchatka Krai in Russia.