STUNNING footage of Iceland’s erupting volcano has been captured by a low flying drone which got terrifyingly close to the boiling lava.
Iceland’s Fagradalsfjall volcano began erupting last Friday after 800 years of being dormant.
It’s thought over 50,000 small earthquakes triggered last week’s eruption.
Fortunately, the eruption was also small and hasn’t harmed anyone.
It has provided some pretty cool views of molten lava though and drone pilot Bjorn Steinbekk was able to soar his device over the volcano for a closer look.
Steinbekk posted his amazing footage on Twitter and YouTube.
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It may leave you wondering how his drone was able to survive such a perilous flight.
The lava flow is less than 0.4 square miles so it’s very contained and officials have been keeping an eye on it.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said in a statement: “The eruption is considered a small one and the eruption fissure is about 500-700 metres (1640-2300 feet) long.”
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Compared to a human the lava patch is still pretty big and hundreds of hikers visiting the sight have proved this point.
They won’t want to get too close though as hot lava is around 1,250°C.
Icelandic people who live down wind from the volcano have been told to keep their windows shut incase of toxic gas emissions reaching their homes.
The volcano, located southwest of Iceland’s capital of Reykjavík , is in a seismic hotspot which has been hit by tens of thousands of tremors in recent weeks.
A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded less than a mile from Fagradalsfjall just hours before Friday’s eruption.
How do volcanoes erupt?
- Volcanoes are formed when a hot liquid like substance called magma breaks through the Earth’s crust
- Once the magma reaches the surface and gushes into the air, this is known as a volcanic eruption
- Volcanic eruptions can release lava, rocks, dust, volcanic ash and toxic gases into the atmosphere
- Some eruptions are huge and kill lots of people but other eruptions can be small flows of lava that are easily avoided
- Volcanoes normally give off warning sides before an eruption occurs, such as tremors or gases, and this gives people nearby time to evacuate
Iceland’s volcano stages spectacular lava show
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
