The eruption -- the 10th on the Reykjanes Peninsula since 2021 -- began with little warning. The nearby town of Grindavik and the Blue Lagoon were evacuated.
A volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted for the seventh time since December overnight, sending plumes of smoke into the air as bright orange lava spewed.
The latest eruption -- the 10th on the Reykjanes Peninsula since 2021 -- began late Wednesday night with little warning, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office.
As of Thursday, there were no reports of casualties. Nearby homes were evacuated and there was no disruption to flights in the region, though roads around the eruption site were closed, emergency and Foreign Ministry officials said.
There is no threat to the region, emergency officials said, adding that gas emissions from the eruption are expected to move southwards and out to sea over the coming days.
Wednesday night's eruption was "significantly smaller" than the last eruption, which took place in August, the meteorological office said. Unlike previous eruptions, "seismic activity did not start increasing in the weeks leading up to this eruption," it said, with the first signs appearing around 45 minutes before the eruption began at 11:14 p.m.
By 2 a.m., the eruption appeared to have peaked, the agency said.
According to Iceland's civil management and emergency department, the nearby town of Grindavik and nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa were both evacuated.
The evacuation of around "50 or 60" homes "went very smoothly," the agency said. "There was no immediate danger and the residents were well-versed in how evacuations were carried out," it added.
Grindavik, which has been affected by the volcano's previous eruptions, is located about 30 miles southwest of Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. The Blue Lagoon, one of the country's most popular tourist destinations, was closed Thursday.
"In the big picture, this is a bit smaller than the last eruption, and the eruption that occurred in May," Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, a professor of geophysics who flew with the Civil Protection agency to monitor the eruption from the air, told Iceland's national broadcaster RUV, according to the Associated Press.
Authorities said at the time that the May eruption may have been the most vigorous in the area to date.