We have been having funny, little mini-earthquakes in the past days, and news reports linked them to volcano activity in the Eyjafjallajökull glacier area.
Well, this night, around 11:30 local time, the volcano erupted, close to Fimmvörduháls, a walking path that is very popular during summer months. The exact location of the volcano is between the Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull glacier. The biggest danger, in eruptions happening close to a glacier, is the risk of major floods. Anyhow, scientists reported that the eruption occurred in an area that is not in direct contact with any of the glaciers, even though the biggest fear is that the event could trigger a larger eruption in the Katla volcano – “a vicious volcano that could cause both local and global damage,” said Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland’s Institute of Earth Science.
Meanwhile, the area around the eruption has been evacuated. Also, all flights departing from the country – most of them bringing back home tourists that came for a weekend in Iceland – and all internal flights have been cancelled, at least until this evening, due to low visibility from the ash plume and heat waves.
Video of the eruption by RÚV, Icelandic national broadcasting service, also re-posted in HQ on youtube:
where is it located n/w