REYKJAVIK: Glowing lava spewed on Thursday from a new volcanic fissure on Iceland`s Reykjanes peninsula, the third eruption to hit the area since December, with authorities declaring a state of emergency as lava burst a key water pipe.

Video images of the crack in the Earth`s surface, stretching an estimated three kilometres (two miles), showed the fissure illuminating a plume of smoke rising into the dark morning sky that was visible 40 kilometres away in the capital of Reykjavik.

Iceland`s Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management declared a state of emergency after lava flowed over a pipe transporting hot water to the Reykjanes peninsula, causing the pipe to burst.

`The hot water pipe is broken, which is causing a lack of hot water` in the southern part of the Reykjanes peninsula known as Sudurnes, home to about 28,000 people, the department said in a statement.

`It is now important that residents and businesses in Sudurnes save all electricity and hot water,` it said.

`We are working on figuring out the next steps to make sure people get warm water,` department spokeswoman Hjordis Gudmundsdottir said, saying the water was also used to heat homes around the peninsula.

The department urged residents to refrain from hot showers or baths and conserve water.

Hot water stored in tanks was now the only available source in the area, authorities said. Under normal circumstances, the tanks can supply the area for three to six hours, but with the conservation measures they could last six to 12 hours.

Seven hours after the eruption began, the IMO said its power was diminishing and lava jets were primarily shooting out of three spots along the fissure.-AFP