UK government failed preparing for a volcano ash threat from Iceland

43 Replies to “UK government failed preparing for a volcano ash threat from Iceland”

1. We don’t properly prepare for anything in the UK. Severe weather is virtually guarunteed at some time each winter, yet we are never prepared, so transport grinds to a halt for a light dusting of snow. In hilly areas it stops even for severe frost on roads. Supermarkets cannot get food or anything if it goes on for several consequtive days. Schools mostly close if there is any snow at all, so parent have to stay off work to look after children, which in turn means they aren’t at work, so other services and things also come to a halt – typically for less than 1cm of snow, especially where the land is hilly.

   If we can’t plan better for that, no wonder we do not plan for ash from volcanos!

   1. Don’t feel bad, we don’t prepare for much here in the U.S. either. One of the illnesses of our democracy is the inability to make tough decisions to the point where we are endangered. At least the EU countries have decided that austerity is better than Las Vegas.

      1. ….and given the condition of Las Vegas right now (buried in unemployement and debt and a ghost town of foreclosed properties), I don’t hold much hope for the U.S. economy.

      2. Hey, at least new construction is up.

         Seems no one wants a property in a blighted and mostly foreclosed neighborhood.

2. Sounds like 1 cm of snow is the British conception for a catastrophe…

   For me, a native Finn, even over 30 cm of snow is only a small element of delay, not a problem of any kind!

3. As here in sweden. We had a bad winter this year…Got over 60cm (2 feet) of snow in two days but it didnt slow things down much. Of course it was a nuisanse but things kept on going. Now we only have 30cm (1 foot). Waiting for spring already..Had 17 degrees below zero yesterday but the weather will be warmer soon. 🙂

4. BTW, where is Carl? Not enough mysli?!

   1. He sad something about travelling for the company he works for some days ago.

   2. Carl le Strange on müsli says:
      February 21, 2011 at 18:10

      “……I think I will reschedule and continue to Iceland on my way home from Shanghai to see what the hell they are doing. And there went my weekend to hell…..”

      1. And got busted in Iceland for spying on “national treasures”?!? Just joking…

5. Dont know havent seen him posting here in a couple of days. Maybe he is on holiday to some warmer country. 🙂

6. …before flight disruption from Krýsuvik volcano… hehe… 🙂
   BTW. IMO’s data are back.
   3.6 was downgraded to 3.0.

7. Lurking Around In Data, did you notice the zipper being unzipped in the LSF and then hitting the YWF and unzipping along its axis since the large 4.5 last week.

   1. Not there yet. I’ve done 600 miles of service calls in two days. Sort of does a number on your mental facilities. I did get my query points selected.

      As for unzipping, I really have my doubts on the LSF, the mechanics just aren’t there. We’ll see Point Loma just across from Oakland before that happens.

      1. and now a 3.0 pops off on the EF and perfect line of quakes along the YWF continues eastward. By zipper I just mean the perfect line along the fault traveling in sequence.

      2. It was the earthquake from yesterday.

      3. Yeah… but the Yuha Wells may or may not connect to that collection of 1.6s. However it is an almost perfect lineament.

         As for the wave… dunno. I only see two, and it’s near impossible to tell if it’s real. For that matter, the evidence for the other waves may just be an artifact of human beings tending to find patterns in everything.

         The wave plot:

         http://i55.tinypic.com/331h8yh.png

         And the area plot, highlighting the “Yuha Wells” batch.

         http://i51.tinypic.com/33clqiv.png

         For everyone else, sorry about the OT.

      4. Well, when the San Andreas breaks at 8.0+ for 2.5 min + and severes So Calif, you will be forgiven 🙂

         I noticed the depth was 0.00 on 5 of those Imperial Valley quakes..strange

      5. Could have been some one shooting at a coyote.

      6. I figured it out. Its ZORO. Look at the pattern now. It just make a left hook and is now headed for the SAF tendricles. Its make a perfect Z. 🙂

         I don’t like the looks of this bat man.

      7. Lets see if we get a Bombay Beach swarm over this.

      8. Hm… that is odd.

         Is this is a more eastern expression of the Yuha Wells? Does that bend indicate a historical northward displacement of the western part of that complex? If so, is the odd quake pattern indicative of more loading towards the Salton Sea? How will this interact with the still ongoing swarm present on the southern part of the Salton Sea? (note, it predates the Mexicali {Baja} 7.2 by two years)

8. Jón is it weather noise on your helicorder over last night ? It is a lot of movement for sure.

   Also, specifically the events around 19:25 and 21:30, can you explain what might they be?

   1. There was a storm in this area of Iceland last night. It seems anyway. So this was just really strong wind.

9. All the action has ceased over Iceland. Weird, isn’t it?

   1. It is that or part of the IMO network is down. I am not sure what is the reality in this case.

      1. Oh, I see.
         I was thinking it could be something of the kind.
         I’ll be away for Carnival holidays. I only hope I won’t miss all the action.
         If I do, keep a record for me.
         Thanks a lot Jón!

10. Off topic.

    A minor update on my status. Thanks to donations March has been saved. Thank you people! 🙂

    But as for April things look a bit bad at the moment. I am going to try to cut down cost as I can. But I need to pay for all the basic things and I am not sure that I am going to be able to afford everything of it. But that might change if I get a job here in Denmark. But it is all depending. If I get a job here in Denmark then I won’t go anywhere and just stay here until I can move to Germany.

    If this does not work out. I have tree options. They are put down here in the order that they are most likely to happen.

    1: I move back to Iceland after ? number of months when I get a apartment in Iceland. That would be in Hvammstangi, my old home town or in a town named Sauðárkrókur. If I get a apartment in Sauðárkrókur then I will go back into school and finish what I have left in the school of what I want to learn. If I don’t get a apartment then I am going to look into going into school. Even if it costs me a lot of money to do so.
    2: I move to Germany. But at the moment it looks unlikely to happen as it depends on the cost. Germany is cheaper then Denmark but I don’t know by how much.
    3: I move to Spain. It might work, depends on the cost.
    4: I move to Portugal. It might work, but it depends on the cost as everything else.

    I have my backup plan already in the works, just to be on the save side of things. But until this clears up I am not sure how I am going to make it here in Denmark.

    1. Jón, I’m older than you and if you don’t mind, allow me to suggest you an advise.
       You are a clever, competent man.
       I am sure you will be all right wherever you go, and all the choices are tempting (actually you have four options, instead of three). 🙂
       Give yourself sometime to settle down. Moving is expensive, and you must be patient to reap the fruits of what you sow.
       But I want you to know that we are here to support you in whatever decisions you take.

       1. I am settling in fine. It is all getting there slowly. But the main problem that I have is the money issue and that issue is not going anywhere.

          I know moving is expensive. That is why I would hate have to move back to Iceland.

    2. Then there is the option that Amazon actually pays off in a short run (A option that I did not think of). Then I can make a decent living here in Denmark without any issue.

       I will see what happens. I am trying read up on Amazon system.

11. Or give up all your worldly possessions and move to Akron, OH, US, where you can rent for less than $400/month or buy for $40000….. and I promise the winters will remind you of iceland!
    The real estate market has kicked our butts here. Good luck finding a job, though.

12. I will never forget the words: “Use Google Translate and expect world of mystery to happen.” If I can ever stop laughing.

    1. Dear Brenda,
       I once translated a few sentences from Dutch to French to Korean to English to German and back to Dutch! So I know what you mean with “if I ever can “stop laughing”!

13. A little lite reading

    Abstract
    Three large earthquakes (Mw>4.5) were triggered within 5 min, 85 km west of a Mw 6.5 earthquake in the South Iceland
    Seismic Zone (SISZ). We report on surface effects of these triggered earthquakes, which include fresh rupture, widespread
    rockfall, disrupted rockslides and block slides. Field data confirm that the earthquakes occurred along N-striking right-lateral
    strike-slip faults. Field data also support the conclusion from modeling of InSAR data that deformation from the second
    triggered event was more significant than for the other two. A major hydrological effect was the draining of water through an
    open fissure on a lake bed, lowering the lake level by greater than 4 m. Field relationships suggest that a component of aseismic
    slip could have been facilitated by water draining into the fault zone.

    http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBQQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fciteseerx.ist.psu.edu%2Fviewdoc%2Fdownload%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.124.3267%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf&rct=j&q=%22Surface%20effects%20of%20triggered%20fault%20slip%20on%20Reykjanes%20Peninsula%22&ei=YwVxTfjWGorogQePncVF&usg=AFQjCNHAC0oe0N87obxntibNjvvhEoxb4w&cad=rja

    And… if that link got mangled in the forums, go to google and search for

    “Surface effects of triggered fault slip on Reykjanes Peninsula”

    Make sure you include the quotation marks. The citeseerx.ist.psu.edu link is the one you want.

    1. So it did similar swarming in 2002? or was it just 3 bigger earthquakes?

14. It drained the lake… well, took some water out of it (not drained). So, this serves to get a better grasp on how it’s put together.

    Just note that it didn’t erupt then even with bigger quakes. I have no idea how the inflation then compares with now.

15. There is a slight increase in earthquakes at Krýsuvík volcano. This might be a sign that a new earthquake swarm is going to start soon.

16. ” Use Google Translate and expect world of mystery to happen.”

    haha .. nice how you put that. 🙂

    1. Oh, I just scrolled up to prior comments and see Brenda had same reaction. lol

       1. Sometimes it’s obvious on what level I like to operate, William. I feel better knowing someone else is there occasionally. If I knew how to put a smiley face >here<, I would.

       2. You can use standard smiley face in WordPress comment system.

          Here is a example.
          🙂
          😀
          🙁

       3. Do the smiley… the forum will adapt. It always doesn 😛

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