A day after the rift formed in an uninhabited valley, curious onlookers travelled to the volcano's eruption location near Iceland's capital Reykjavik on Thursday to marvel at the bubbling lava.
The Mount Fagradalsfjall volcano in southwest Iceland, which erupted magma for six months between March and September 2021, is about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Reykjavik.
The current eruption is more difficult to approach, requiring a rigorous 90-minute mountainous climb from the closest car park, in contrast to last year's eruption, which was easily accessible on foot and attracted more than 435,000 tourists.
Despite this, the Icelandic Tourist Board reports that more than 1,830 individuals visited the site on the first day of the eruption, and additional people were observed walking to the area early on Thursday.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office estimated the length of the fissure to be about 360 metres (1,181 feet), with lava fountains rising to a height of 10 to 15 metres.
Scientists from the Institute of Earth Sciences took measurements on Wednesday at 1705 GMT, 3.5 hours after the eruption started, and determined that the average lava flow in the first hours was 32 cubic metres per second.
That is about four or five times more than at the beginning of last year’s eruption.
“The current eruption is therefore much more powerful,” the Institute wrote in a Facebook post.
The lava covered an area of about 74,000 square metres, it said.
By comparison, last year’s six-month eruption saw 150 million cubic metres of lava spilled over 4.85 square kilometres.
Officials had initially urged people to refrain from visiting the site until a danger assessment had been conducted.
But on Thursday, the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management said only that young children should not walk up to the eruption site.
Gases from a volcanic eruption — especially sulphur dioxide — can be elevated in the immediate vicinity, may pose a danger to health and even be fatal.
Gas pollution can also be carried by the wind.
Mount Fagradalsfjall belongs to the Krysuvik volcanic system on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwestern Iceland.
Known as the land of fire and ice, Iceland has 32 volcanic systems currently considered active, the highest number in Europe. The country has had an eruption every five years on average.