New crater eruption happens in southern Iceland

STOCKHOLM, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Southern Iceland suffered a second crater eruption Wednesday evening, leaving a 100 km rift and forcing evacuations in a nearby town, according to reports reaching here from Reykjavik Thursday.

“The formation of the new rift was similar to that at the beginning of the first eruption. This could lead to a stream of lava flowing towards Thorsmork, situated in the south of Iceland between the glaciers Tindfjallajokull and Eyjafjallajokull," one geologist was quoted as saying. The new rift literally opened before the eyes of scientists at the scene, said a report of the Iceland Review said.

The split went south towards the crater that was the scene of the first eruption but in a different direction, the report said.

The site was closed to all traffic and about 80 people were evacuated by helicopter from Thorsmork, leaving about 25 still in the town, the report added.

On March 21, a volcano in Iceland's southern area of the Eyjafjallajokull glacier erupted, some 120 km east of Reykjavik, capital of Iceland. Hundreds of local residents were evacuated for fear of flooding caused by melting glacier waters.

The last eruption of a volcano in the same area occurred in the 1820s.