Volcanic glow lights up Iceland's capital

Pandemic or no pandemic, the world will never stand still.

That is perhaps no clearer than in Iceland, where a volcano has awoken from a slumber that has lasted the best part of 6000 years.

The glow from the bubbling hot lava spewing out of the Fagradalsfjall volcano can be seen from the outskirts of Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, 32km away.

For others around the world, there is always the live feed.

This is the Reykjanes Peninsula's first eruption of any volcano in around 800 years, and nothing quite matches the exhilaration of bearing witness to planet earth's raw power up close and personal.

Fagradalsfjall itself is made up of the Icelandic words for "beautiful valley mountain".

Miguel Angel Morenatti, a Seville-based freelance photographer for The Associated Press, loves Iceland and brought forward his trip to the North Atlantic island nation when he heard of the eruption on March 19.

"As a landscape photographer, Iceland is a paradise," he said.

Getting to the peak is not for everyone.

It is an arduous climb, taking two to three hours, but for Morenatti, "When you finish the climb, you contemplate in amazement what happens there".