Authorities have evacuated families, hotel guests and tourists from Grindavík, the nearby Blue Lagoon resort, and other surrounding areas as a precaution

A volcanic eruption in Southwestern Iceland forced the evacuation of a nearby town and the world-famous Blue Lagoon geothermal spa on Wednesday, July 16. Media images captured huge plumes of smoke and glowing lava flows spewing from an enormous crack in Earth’s surface roughly 30 miles (18.6 miles) southwest of Reykjavík.

Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula experienced its ninth eruption since late 2023 on July 16, 2025, prompting evacuations at the Blue Lagoon and Grindavik. This latest event, deemed relatively small, follows a series of eruptions that began in March 2021 after eight centuries of dormancy.

Thanks to all the geothermal activity, there are a whole lot of hot pots in Iceland (they don’t call it the Land of Fire and Ice for nothing!). I was super excited to hit as many hot springs as we possibly could during our time there.