Iceland volcano erupts, spewing lava, smoke after weeks of earthquakes

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A volcano in southwest Iceland has erupted, spewing lava and smoke across a wide area weeks after nearly 4,000 residents of a nearby town were evacuated amid intense seismic activity.

The eruption started at about 10:17pm (22:17 GMT) on Monday on Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula, turning the sky orange and prompting the country's civil defence to be on high alert. It appeared to have taken place about 4km (2.4 miles) from the town of Grindavik, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said.

Al Jazeera's Aksel Zaimovic reports.