Icelandic authorities have advised residents of the capital Reykjavik to take extra precautions, including sleeping with closed windows, after a nearby volcano spewed a toxic plume into the atmosphere, Reuters reported.

Iceland’s Department of Civil Protection and Emergencies urged residents of the Reykjanes peninsula near the capital Reykjavik to turn off ventilation systems and close windows at night.

“The police, after consultation with scientists, decided to restrict access to the eruption site due to the huge contamination with life-threatening toxic gas,” the department also said in a post on its Facebook page.

“It is very likely that in the next few hours, gas will accumulate around the eruption site due to atmospheric pressure. Those who have already started hiking to the site of the eruption or are already there are strongly advised to leave the area,” the Icelandic authorities added.

The Guardian notes that the volcano is located about 30 kilometers from the capital of Iceland, this is the third eruption recorded in the area in the last 3 years.

Spectacular volcanic eruption near the capital Reykjavik

A video released by local media shows a huge cloud of smoke rising from the ground and significant lava flows.

Smoke could be seen from the road connecting Iceland’s capital to the international airport that serves it, with people stopping their cars to take pictures.

Thousands of low-intensity earthquakes were recorded in the area in the weeks leading up to the eruption, signaling that the magma in the basement was moving and that an eruption was imminent.

The other two eruptions that have occurred in the area started in March 2021, when the Geldingadalur Valley volcano erupted for 6 months, and in August 2022, when another volcano erupted in the Meradalir Valley for 3 weeks.

Before the 2021 eruption, the area had been volcanically inactive for 8 centuries, but experts now believe that a new cycle of eruptions could last several years.