Iceland volcano erupts for 2nd time this year

A volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted on Thursday for the third time since December, sending jets of lava into the sky and triggering the evacuation of the Blue Lagoon spa, one of the island nation's biggest tourist attractions.

The eruption began at about 0600 GMT (1 a.m. EST) along a three-kilometre (nearly two-mile) fissure northeast of Mount Sýlingarfell, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said. The site is about 4 kilometres (2½ miles) northeast of Grindavik, a coastal town of 3,800 people that was evacuated before a previous eruption on Dec. 18.

The Meteorological Office said that lava was flowing to the west and there was no immediate threat to Grindavik, and civil defense officials said that no one was believed to be in the town at the time of the eruption.