REYKJAVIK: A third volcanic eruption that wreaked havoc on Icelandic infrastructure came to an end Saturday, national authorities said, although hot water supplies damaged by the activity will take “several days” to repair.
The water supply was briefly restored Friday, but lava spewing from a volcanic fissure on Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula later broke a bypass pipe again cutting off supplies, the country's Civil Protection Service said in a statement.
The pipe is located in the middle of the flow, “in the section where it is the thickest, and therefore it is impossible to undertake repairs there,“ the statement said.
The hot water is used to heat houses, in the southern part of the peninsula, known as Sudurnes, home to some 28,000 inhabitants.
The civil protection service said preparations for laying a new pipe were underway but “will take a few days”.
An estimated 15 million cubic metres of lava flowed out in the first seven hours of the eruption, early Thursday, the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) has said.
Dramatic images showed lava flowing over a road leading to Iceland's famed Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, which had been evacuated, and the flow also crossed over a key water pipe.
Schools, public pools and sport facilities in the region were closed on Friday, officials said.
The IMO has since confirmed the eruption has ended.
This was the third eruption since December, in the same area as two previous ones, on December 18 and the second on January 14, near the fishing village of Grindavik. - AFP
