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Watch Live: “Explosive” Iceland volcano eruption shoots lava across roads and sends pollution toward the capital
For the fifth time since December, a volcanic eruption is underway in southwest Iceland. The Icelandic Met Office said that the eruption started Wednesday after hundreds of earthquakes were recorded in recent days, with the eruption quickly becoming “explosive.”
As of Thursday morning, the latest eruption had resulted in a nearly two-mile-long fissure that was spewing “considerable lava fountaining.” The Met Office said that lava has been flowing “vigorously” from the fissure and has gone over roads towards the volcanic Þorbjörn. That mountain sits outside the small fishing village of Grindavík that has seen evacuations, cracked roads and homes swallowed up by lava flows in previous eruptions in the past half-year.
The eruption came after hundreds of earthquakes rattled the area over several days. Late last week, the Met Office reported that roughly 140 earthquakes had been detected in just two days, although all were small. The weekend before that saw another 200 earthquakes, also small.
Marco di Marco / AP
“Explosive activity began when the magma came into contact with groundwater where a lava flows into a fissure by Hagafell,” the office said. “The magma causes the water to be quickly converted into gaseous state (steam), causing steam explosions and tephra fall (ash). There is considerable uncertainty regarding the amount of gases from the eruption site.”
The Blue Lagoon, a popular tourist destination known for its geothermal spa, has temporarily shut down because of the eruption, saying it was evacuated and will remain closed until at least Friday.
Marco di Marco / AP
“Over the past few months, we have been reminded of the powers of nature and how they inevitably influence us all,” the Blue Lagoon announcement says. “During this time of seismic activity, we have had to temporarily close our operations but have remained in close contact with Icelandic authorities and acted in accordance with set precautions and measures in the area.”
Forecasters believe that winds on Thursday will blow gases from the eruption to the east, sending polluting particles toward the northeast of the island nation. Sulfur dioxide gas, which can lead to acid rain and air pollution, could be detected as far as the capital city of Reykjavik, about 25 miles away.
The last eruption in the area in March sent sulfur dioxide emissions to continental Europe, where they reached as far as Russia.
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Watch Live: Biden awards Medal of Honor to 2 Union soldiers who hijacked train behind enemy lines
Washington — President Biden is awarding posthumous Medals of Honor on Wednesday to two Army privates who were a part of a plot to hijack a train and destroy Confederate infrastructure during the Civil War.
The president will honor Philip Shadrach and George Wilson for their “gallantry and intrepidity” in carrying out a covert operation called the “Great Locomotive Chase,” which played out 200 miles behind Confederate lines in Georgia in 1862, the White House said.
“In one of the earliest special operations in U.S. Army history, Union Soldiers dressed as civilians infiltrated the Confederacy, hijacked a train in Georgia and drove it north for 87 miles, destroying enemy infrastructure along the way. During what later became known as the Great Locomotive Chase, six of the Union participants became the Army’s first recipients of the newly created Medal of Honor,” a White House official said.
The operation was hatched by James Andrews, a Kentucky-born civilian spy and scout. He proposed penetrating the Confederacy with the goal of degrading their railway and communications lines to cut off Chattanooga, Tennessee, from Confederate supplies and reinforcements.
Andrews, together with 23 other men, infiltrated the South in small groups, coming together north of Atlanta. On April 12, 1862, 22 of the men commandeered a locomotive called The General and ventured north, tearing up railroad tracks and cutting telegraph wires as they went. The men became known as the Andrews’ Raiders.
Shadrach, originally from Pennsylvania and orphaned at a young age, was just 21 when he volunteered for the mission. On Sept. 20, 1861, he left home and enlisted in a Union Army Ohio Infantry Regiment. Wilson, born in Ohio, was a journeyman shoemaker before he enlisted in a Union Army’s Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1861. He also volunteered for the Andrews’ Raid.
After the operation, both men were captured, convicted as spies and hanged.
“It is unknown why Private Shadrach and Private Wilson were not originally recommended for the Medal of Honor,” a White House official said. “Both were deserving in 1863, and on July 3, 2024, by order of the President of the United States both will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.”
The ceremony comes as questions mount over Mr. Biden’s future as the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, with his public appearances under intense scrutiny following his halting performance at last week’s presidential debate. After the Medal of Honor ceremony, the president is meeting with Democratic governors to address their concerns and chart his path forward.
How to watch Biden present the Medal of Honor
- What: President Biden awards the Medal of Honor
- Date: July 3, 2024
- Time: 4:45 p.m. ET
- Location: White House
- Online stream: Live on CBS News in the player above and on your mobile or streaming device.
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