Eyjafjallajokull


Eyjafjallajökull subglacial volcano


Eyjafjallajökull volcano is an ice-cap covered stratovolcano located to the north of Skógar (Skogar) and to the west of Mýrdalsjökull (Myrdalsjokull) glacier in southern Iceland.

Fimmvorduhals eruption

Preceding the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, there was seismic and volcanic activity at Fimmvörðuháls (Fimmvorduhals). The area is located on about a 2 km wide pass of ice-free land between Eyjafjallajokull and the nearby Katla volcano with its overlying cap of the Myrdalsjokull glacier. The initial visual report of the eruption happened around midnight on 20 March 2010 when a red cloud was noticed lighting up the sky above the site. The eruption broke out with fire fountains when about a 500 m long fissure vent opened. Lava flows occurred and a minor plume of less than 1 km. Two new craters erupted about a week later, with spectacular fireworks of magma and lava flows.

2010 Eyjafjallajokull eruption

Located south of the intersection between the South Iceland Seismic Zone and the Eastern Volcanic Zone, Eyjafjallajokull is close to a propagating rift zone – and, close to an inhabited region. On the 14th of April 2010, a phone-call in the dead of night was the first hint that the people living at the foot of Eyjafjallajokull

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