My friend Hrafn lives in Iceland, so I perk up any time I hear news coming from there. Well, this was a doozy!
Eyjafjallajökull, translated “island mountain glacier”, is one of the smaller glaciers of Iceland. The icecap of the glacier covers a volcano (1,666 m in height) which has erupted relatively frequently since the Ice Age. The last eruption was from 1821 to 1823, causing a fatal glacier run.
On March 20, 2010 the volcano began erupting near Mýrdalsjökull, and on April 14, 2010 Eyjafjallajökull erupted again, this time from the top crater in the centre of the glacier, causing meltwater floods to rush down the nearby rivers, and requiring 800 people to be evacuated. This eruption was explosive in nature and is estimated to be ten to twenty times larger than the previous one.
As scary as the eruptions are, they are also magnificent opportunities for photographers, and there were quite a few beautiful photos taken of this eruption. Here is a short video that explains what’s going on in the volcano, and the photos follow.
Photos of the Iceland Eruption
All photos but the first space photo (from NASA) are courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/orvaratli/
I spent a couple of days at the eruption site, on duty for my search & rescue team. Seeing lava up-close is remarkable—later on our nightwatch brought swarms of northern lights as well. Beautiful sight.
I wanna know how you say Eyjafjallajökull?
Great photos!
I wish I were there too, incredible.