Fact Check: Video showing volcanic eruption in Iceland is MISLEADING
The fishing town of Grindavik was evacuated a week ago as magma rumbled and shook under the earth amid thousands of tremors. Grindavik, a town of 3,400, sits on the Reykjanes Peninsula, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of the capital, Reykjavik, and not far from Keflavik Airport, Iceland's main facility for international flights.
volcanic eruption
The fishing town of Grindavik was evacuated a week ago as magma rumbled and shook under the earth amid thousands of tremors. Grindavik, a town of 3,400, sits on the Reykjanes Peninsula, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of the capital, Reykjavik, and not far from Keflavik Airport, Iceland's main facility for international flights.
The nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal resort, one of Iceland's top tourist attractions, has been shut at least until the end of November because of the volcano danger. Thousands of tremors have been recorded around the nearby Fagradalsfjall volcano in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, a video showing a volcano erupting while people watching start to run away is in circulation on social media. The caption on the video is “Iceland - Volcano is starting to erupt. Mass evacuations are happening.”
Fact Check:
The claim is Misleading. The video in circulation is not recent, it shows a volcanic eruption at the Fagradalsfjall volcano in 2021.
When we performed a Google reverse image search using key frames extracted from the video, we found that the video was published on Twitter on March 22, 2021, with the caption “Scary moments as a part of Iceland's newest volcano collapses. What would you do in this situation?”
We also found an image showing the volcanic eruption with several tourists looking by, which was shared with the caption “Volcanic festival 2021” published on March 21, 2021.
According to an article on bbc.com, published on March 22, 2021, a similar image was shared showing thousands flocked at the volcano in Iceland that erupted near the capital, Reykjavik. Lava started to burst through a crack in Mount Fagradalsfjall, the first eruption in more than 800 years. The site was initially blocked off but later people were allowed to make the trek.
Hence, the viral video of the volcanic eruption is not recent, the video is from the year 2021. The claim is Misleading.