Eruption Report Iceland / eruption report

26.5.2010

Goodnight, Sweet Prince!

And, as with the loss of an old friend, my heart is filled with sadness. Our pet volcano appears to be dead.

25.5.2010

It's Over

Everyone's favorite ash-belching machine appears to have reached a conclusion.

14.5.2010

After showering Hvolsvöllur with black rain and making things generally unpleasant throughout the southwest, the Eyjafjallajökull eruption has once again decided to bless the capital area with the gift of a fine ash mist.

10.5.2010

Eyjafjallajökull Raves On

As those European airport slumber parties wind down and guests return to the humdrum of sleeping in real beds, taking showers and hopefully changing their socks, the Eyjafjallajökull ash fest is far from over for the farmers living near the base of the hard-to-pronounce-sub-glacial-volcano.

7.5.2010

It Stirs!

Firstly I should apologise for the lack of updates recently - I've been quite busy elsewhere, and besides the eruption had been largely stable. But much like my schedule, the eruption has changed again, so here's an update as to what's going on with our pet volcano at the moment.

28.4.2010

Ash Cloud Heading West and South West

State news channel RÚV reports that the Eyjafjallajökull ash cloud is now moving in a west and southwesterly direction. And you know what that means!

23.4.2010

Attention World: Reykjavík is NOT Covered in Ash

Looks like we need to set the record straight.

23.4.2010

Icelandic President: Amateur Volcano Expert

Icelandic president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson has once again spoken to the BBC about the dangers of the volcano Katla, only with a considerably more reserved assessment.

21.4.2010

We Are Drowning In Ash

Your trusty Grapevine team ventured once again to the foot of the now-dying down Eyjafjallajökull eruption. The scenery was devastating and awe-inspiring; looking over a landscape covered in thick layers of ash, a grey church, muddy rivers and an eerie sense of calm contentment in the air, all the while hearing faint rumbles of the Earth churning out more earth through a glacier a few kilometres away.

20.4.2010

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

As so often happens with volcanoes, a lot has changed in the past day or so, so I will try to sum up the recent activity as of Tuesday afternoon. If something changes before this even gets published, then so be it - volcanoes are often incredibly unstable beasts!

20.4.2010

Eruption Aye-ya fyah-dla jow-kudl

With the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, it has become pretty clear that Icelandic can be quite the tongue twister. Many of its sounds probably had to be picked up during that critical language acquisition stage if you’re going to have a fighting chance at getting it right.

20.4.2010

The President is Not a Geologist

President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson said many things to the BBC last night with regards to the volcanic eruption. Things that have apparently been reprinted across numerous news sources. The president, however, is not a geologist.

19.4.2010

Hekla Has NOT Started Erupting

Despite what many tweets would have, Mt. Hekla has not started erupting.This has been confirmed by Grapevine representatives on location, and the whole of the Icelandic media.

18.4.2010

You Weren’t There, Man

As I write this, I am honestly still trying to comprehend what we experienced yesterday, when Grapevine's plucky band of explorers-cum-journalists entered the restricted zone around the current eruption. I'll try to describe what we saw, what we experienced, and a little of what it's like in there. But, as the overused film quote goes, "You weren't there, man!" It really is impossible to adequately convey...

18.4.2010

Amazing New Eruption Pics!

Grapevine's dedicated team of eruption enthusiasts just returned from a lengthy sojourn down to the explosive area down south. Some high-level connections enabled them to travel closer to the action than most - and they shot many, many photos.

16.4.2010

Farewell Fimmvörðuháls Eruption

Just when we thought the volcano craze was bubbling down and our Icelandic lives could once again be consumed by IceSave, banksters and corruption (not to mention incompetence!), a second volcano started brewing – this time under neighbouring Eyjafjallajökull glacier.

16.4.2010

Two Floods Broke Out Overnight

Two floods caused by lava melting glacial ice broke out near the Markarfljót river last night.

15.4.2010

Eruption News Roundup

A corncucopia of news events surrounding and pertaining to the current eruption.

15.4.2010

Eruption Could Go On For Months

Following yesterday's slightly surprising eruption development, more detailed news have begun to trickle in. I bring you as much as I know, straight from the very knowledgeable and probably very tired scientists who are working on this right now.

14.4.2010

Flooding Reaches Peak, Another on the Way

RÚV is now reporting that flooding caused by the new eruption has reached its peak, but another is soon to follow.

14.4.2010

NEW ERUPTION!

So, after yesterday's tectonic disappointment, I bring good news! If you like volcanoes, anyway. Our old friend Eyjafjallajökull, who we thought was stopping, is in fact not stopping. At all. News have been coming out of another eruption this morning following a large earthquake swarm overnight, this time underneath the Eyjafjallajökull glacier itself, most likely in the volcano's central caldera (crater).

12.4.2010

So, that was it? Maybe.

It seems today that the eruption at Eyjafjallajökull-Fimmvörðuháls might be coming to an end. Volcanic tremor had decreased approximately to pre-eruption levels (i.e. next to nothing) and there seems to be a lack of lava effusion, from what I can see.

8.4.2010

Volcano Cam International Hit

About a million people from 150 different countries have taken a look at the volcano at Fimmvörðuháls, all through a website with a webcam pointed at the eruption.

7.4.2010

Mountain Name Needed!

Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs Katrín Jakobsdóttir has confirmed with RÚV that a committee is being formed to come up with a name for the new mountain created by the volcano at Fimmvörðuháls.

1.4.2010

Excellent Eruption Pics!

Grapevine was fortunate enough to be invited on a trip to the Eyjafjallajökull/Fimmvörðuháls eruption a couple of days ago, travelling from Reykjavík via a super jeep from Iceland Rovers and up the glacier via a snowmobile from Snow.is.

1.4.2010

More breaking(-ish) news!

At about 19:00 last night a new fissure opened up at the Fimmvörðuháls eruption. Current information is that it's about 300-400 metres long, north-northwest from and pretty close to the first fissure. There is still no sub-glacial activity on Eyjafjallajökull so there's currently no real risk of a jökulhlaup (glacier outburst flood) at this point. My guess is that this has something to do with the activity I last reported. Fire fountaining activity at both is pretty vigorous right now. More information as I get it!

30.3.2010

Satellite Images of the Eyjafjallajökull Volcano

NASA took some superb photos of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption which started over a week ago.

30.3.2010

Breaking Volcano News!

Oh yes, I bring you something new. Within the last hour or so (around 18:00-19:00), a big burst of earthquakes (not necessarily large-magnitude ones, but a lot of them) has occurred in a very tight cluster, focussed somewhere between the Eyjafjallajökull caldera (summit crater) and the current eruptive fissure on Fimmvörðuháls. This was also accompanied by a huge spike in high and mid-frequency tremor.

27.3.2010

A Second Beautiful Lava Fall Forms

Another day, another report. Not a huge amount to say today, as the eruption carries on its merry way, not stopping or even slowing down, it seems. Nonetheless, there are a couple of points of interest that are worth mentioning today.

27.3.2010

Grapevine Takes A Hike - New Videos

The Grapevine's loving patriarch Hilmar Steinn Grétarsson took a drive and a small hike last night to check out our favourite event of 2010 thus far - the Eyjafjallajökull/Fimmvörðuháls eruption. He brought along his camera and shot the below videos, which are truly a sight to behold.

26.3.2010

New Lava Waterfall Forms!

Hello once again, lava lovers! Alas, I have no new photos to share today, but here is what's happening over on our pet volcano right now...
The biggest new development is probably the formation of a new lava flow, and consequently a new steam plume from its interaction with snow and meltwater...

26.3.2010

Stunning New Eruption Photos

While we wait for our awesome volcano man James to send us an update report, we thought we'd share with you some STUNNING new photographs of the volcano! And, we can all thank Þröstur Jón Sigurðsson for hiking up to the volcano and capturing these breathtaking images.

25.3.2010

It just keeps gushing wonderful lava

Hello again volcano watchers! I bring scientific updates on Eyjafjallajökull and (I think) some pretty beautiful photography for you to feast your eyes upon. So let's begin!

23.3.2010

New Eruption Photos, Info

"The eruption continues to rumble on, with continuing quite spectacular fissure eruption activity," Grapevine's volcanologist friend James Ashworth reports in his new column. While he confirms that all talk of a new mountain forming was basically 'media spin', the speculations aren't entirely untrue according to him.

23.3.2010

Eruption Report #3

The eruption continues to rumble on, with continuing quite spectacular fissure eruption activity. The fissure actually expanded yesterday, hence the confusion around its size...

22.3.2010

THE ERUPTION REPORT #2

In short, the eruption continues. In slightly longer terms, it's still going quite strong, actually. I believe the fissure has shortened slightly, as would be expected, although I've heard lengths for this between 2 km and 300 m

22.3.2010

Volcano Still Erupting

The Eyjafjallajökull eruption continues to rage on, although it has apparently calmed down a tad since three o' clock this morning. Also, geologists are saying the eruption should have come as no surprise.

22.3.2010

Eyjafjallajökull Eruption: Video Footage

Grapevine embarked upon a rather fruitless trip to the South coast of Iceland to try and spot some volcanic activities earlier today. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to make it up to the eruption site. When we got back, however, we did find this sweet footage of the eruption, which was apparently shot from an Icelandic Coast Guard helicopter last night.

21.3.2010

EYJAFJALLAJÖKULL ERUPTION, 15 HOURS IN

Grapevine's volcanologist student friend James Ashworth wrote this for us. Expect more from James soon: It is 1am. My phone rings. My friends' phones are all ringing. Emails and Facebook messages are flying around. Why? A volcano is erupting, we are volcanology students, and this is the most exciting thing since... well, since the last time something really exciting happened.

21.3.2010

Volcanic Eruption: Actually In Fimmvörðuháls, All Is Well

Icelandic state news outlet RÚV has posted a public announcement in English regarding the volcanic eruption which we reported on earlier. Everyone is safe and all is well, at least right now. Read their announcement after the jump.

21.3.2010

Volcano Erupts Under Eyjafjallajökull

A volcanic eruption has just begun under the Eyjafjallajökull glacier. This has been verified by local authorities in neighbouring Hvolsvöllur. Vísir reports that farms in the Fljótshlíð area and by Markarhlíð are already being evacuated. Locals in the area have confirmed that they are viewing flames and a steady stream of lava from the glacier.

More Eruption Reports:

Web cameras of Eyjafjallajökull eruption: