On Friday night, the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland’s capital Reykjavik erupted with red lava spewing out of the ground and a crimson glow lighting up the dark night sky. It was an eruption that several Icelanders were expecting the eruption for several weeks, a man named Bjorn Steinbekk deployed his drone to capture the stunning footage.
Defining himself as “a guy with a drone” on his YouTube channel, Steinbekk managed to capture incredible footage of the volcano’s red lava by flying his drone scarily close to the eruption, NDTV reports.
CNET reports that the Krysuvik volcanic system has been inactive for hundreds of years. This marks the first time this volcano has erupted in the past 800 years. The last eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula dates back to 1240 approximately.
But since the eruption was anticipated, thankfully it has not caused any major disruptions or injuries. Here’s a compelling time-lapse of the same:
Night timelapse of the eruption in Iceland. Signs of increased activity (large lava river at 0:50) source: @RUVfrettir #eruption #eldgos #icelanderuption pic.twitter.com/FJQDdN2rFg
— Benedikt Kolbeinsson (@benediktkol) March 21, 2021
These types of eruptions where lava flows steadily out of the ground are called effusive eruptions. These are different from the explosive ones that spew ash clouds high into the sky. In order to help people observe the effusive eruption online, some scientists even set up live streams. Check them out:
A shout out to the scientists who set up the live webcam and then stopped for a #volcano selfie.#iceland #icelandvolcano #Fagradalsfjall https://t.co/MRuAPlAfon pic.twitter.com/sciM6DSGuS
— Christopher Becke (@BeckePhysics) March 20, 2021
Timelapse of eruption over the last couple of hours. People and helicopters start arriving at 1:40. Video source: @RUVfrettir #Reykjanes #eldgos #Fagradalsfjall pic.twitter.com/3Gcn972a8R
— Arinbjörn (@arinbjornkol) March 20, 2021
The visuals are truly hypnotic, don’t you think?