A volcanic eruption lit up the sky over Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula Monday night, Iceland’s meteorological office said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The eruption was recorded at 10:17 p.m. local time north of the fishing town of Grindav\u00edk, the office said in a statement. It was preceded by an earthquake swarm at 9 p.m., the office said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An Iceland coast guard helicopter crew was taking off to get a look at the eruption from the air and estimate a size of the breach, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The nation’s civil defense coordination center was activated as a precaution, and national police raised the nation’s civil defense preparedness level, according to a statement from civil defense officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities asked the public not to visit the area of the volcano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal resort, popular with global travelers, said on its website it was closed as a result of the eruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Civil defense officials and the police commissioner of the southern Reykjanes peninsula evacuated Grindav\u00edk, with a population of roughly 3,400, in mid-November amid a drumbeat of earthquakes they saw as a harbinger of an eruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n