Iceland volcanic eruption slows down, officials work to restore hot water

Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Iceland's latest volcano eruption slowed overnight Thursday night into Friday morning, officials said.

Einar Hjorleifsson, the Icelandic Meteorological Office's natural hazard specialist, told Iceland Monitor that eruption activity located between Mount Sundhnukur and Stora-Skogafell, had decreased from three craters to two.

Officials planned to closely look at the intensity of lava flow on Friday to determine just how much the eruption's threat has decreased.

"Synchronously with the decreasing vigor of the eruption, the deformation signals detected at the dyke area diminished, indicating that magma is no longer ascending under as much pressure as before," the Met Office said in a statement update.

"Soon after the onset of the eruption, seismic activity decreased significantly and has remained minor this far. About 20 small earthquakes have been detected over the dyke since 8:00 this morning."

Pollution from the eruption is expected to be low, meteorologist Birgir Orn Hoskuldsson said. Winds are expected to move eruption clouds west of the Reykjanes peninsula on Friday to the southeast.

Lava from the volcano, though, did flow over and damage a hot water pipeline from the HS Orka geothermal power plant in Svartsengi. The plant provided hot water to Njarovikur.

Iceland's Civil Defense said work is being done to deliver hot water through a bypass but that work has been delayed. Officials said they hope work can be completed by midnight but take up to two days before it can reach full pressure.

The volcano eruption, which started Thursday morning, was Iceland's third in two months. The current eruption happened near the first eruption on December 18. Some of the lava flow from the current eruption covered lava from the December eruption, officials said.