 Aerial footage showed lava spewing from fishers in the ground after a volcano erupted in southwest Iceland on December 19 following weeks of intense earthquake activity. The footage filmed from an Icelandic Coast Guard helicopter by the country's civil protection showed the orange lava set against the dark of the night sky after the eruption started late on Monday, fearing a significant outbreak on the Rakejanes Peninsula. Authorities last month evacuated the nearly 4,000 inhabitants of the fishing town of Grindivik and closed the nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spot. The crack in the Earth's surface was around 3.5 kilometers long and had grown rapidly. The Met Office said some 100 to 200 cubic meters of lava emerged per second. Several times more than in previous eruptions in the area, Icelandic seismologist Kristin Johnsdottar told public broadcaster RUV.