Fears Mount In Iceland Of Possible Bigger Volcanic Eruption! I Better Not Hear That This Has Anything To Do With Climate Change! This Has Everything To Do With The Earth's Crust

Natural Disasters Examiner

Fears mount in Iceland of possible bigger volcanic eruption

written by Tony Hake

Tuesday March 23, 2010

This past weekend the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in southern Iceland erupted and forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents. The activity continues and officials are now concerned that a larger eruption may be possible in the near future.

Saturday’s eruption was relatively minor by most standards. Approximately 500 people were evacuated and a half mile long fissure was opened in the earth. Some flights into and out of Keflavik airport in Reykjavik were canceled or delayed as a result.

The volcano which sits under the glacier of the same name erupted in an area that did not endanger the ice or threaten flooding as a result. Since Saturday’s eruption, activity continues and has been seen increasing as lava flows move further down the mountain.

Leading up to Saturday, experts had noted increased seismic activity but there was no indication an eruption was to follow. Pall Einarsson, of the University of Iceland's Institute of Earth Science told the Associated Press, "Even though we were seeing increased seismic activity, it could have been months or years before we saw an eruption like this ... we couldn't say that there was an imminent risk for the area."

Eyjafjallajokull (also called Eyjafjoll) has erupted only once before in history – in 1821 – with an event that lasted over a year but was relatively mild.

Experts are not as concerned about Eyjafjallajokull as much as a nearby volcano that has much greater potential. Past activity at Eyjafjallajokull has triggered eruptions at the Katla volcano.

Katla sits beneath the Myrdalsjpkull icecap and not only has greater potential for a bigger eruption, an event there would likely melt ice triggering widespread and devastating flooding.

Katla historically erupts every 50 years or so but has not seen an eruption since 1918. That event was explosive in nature and destroyed nearby property.

“One of the possible scenarios we're looking at is that this small eruption could bring about something bigger. This said, we can't speculate on when that could happen," Einarsson said.