Posted on by Jón Frímann

Grímsfjall/Grímsvötn volcano eruption update at 21:54 UTC

This is a minor update to the Grímsfjall volcano / Grímsvötn eruption.

Process of the eruption: The harmonic tremor on the SIL stations around Grímsvötn is increasing again after it did drop a little bit down earlier today. Following this the ash plume has again appeared on radar images from Icelandic Met Office. Currently however the ash plume is just around 10 km high. According to the news, the eruption is made out of basalt. But that is a common eruption type for Grímsvötn. The ash cloud is formed when hot magma gets into contact with ice and water and explodes on contact. This eruption is now expected to many times larger then the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano last year.

Ash cloud: The ash cloud does now covers most of Iceland, except the northern part of west Iceland (for the moment) and east Iceland (for the moment) but that is expected to change in the next 24 to 48 hours. Ash has been reported in most town in Iceland. That includes Reykjavík, Akureyri, Selfoss (heavy ash cloud) and more. According to web cameras there is heavy ash fall close to Hekla volcano from Grímsfjall volcano (web camera pointed towards Hekla is here, Eyjafjallajökull is here). Due the ash cloud all flight to and from Iceland has been grounded until this ash clouds goes away.

Earthquakes: Few earthquakes are recorded. But only two earthquakes have been recorded around Grímsfjall volcano and close to in the past few hours. But that does not mean that they are not happening. But they might simply be lost in the harmonic tremors from the eruption.

Other: Nothing at the moment.

Please note that information here might get outdated really fast and with no warning at all!

15 Replies to “Grímsfjall/Grímsvötn volcano eruption update at 21:54 UTC”

    1. No not seen that- thanks.
      The graph on page 2: that steeply increasing EQ rate since 1990 is intriguing.
      But I dont see EQs trending upwards from depth on later plots. So tectonic cause for EQS? as opposed to magma rising?

  3. I confirm the situation in Selfoss. It is becoming night due to the thick ash cloud.

    The ash fall blanketing everything. It is irritant to the eyes because of the strong wind.
    It’s also very cold, just +1º here.

  7. I’m curious what’s the shortest distance to a volcano houses and roads are permitted to be built in Iceland?

  9. Road: 100 meters, there are roads inside Krafla and Eldfell volcanoes, the last in Westman Islands, is just in the outside of the 80.000 inhabitants city. The houses are about 1000 meters from the still-warm crater, which destroyed a third of the city in 1973 eruption, in a Pompei-style. That is the most close case of houses near a active volcano.

    In Krafla, the power station was built something like 1500-2000 meters away from the crater that erupted in the 1970s, but luckily the lava flowed the other direction. The village is 20km away.

    Vík is about 20km south of Katla, in a very dangerous location, if a major eruption occurs. No houses are near Hekla. Farms are about 5km from Eyjafjallajokull.

    Also in Grimsnes where I live, houses are built just 100 meters from one of the craters. The volcano has been sleeping for 3000 years.

    Reykjavik has fissures running just outside of town. Lava has flowed down the city suburbs since settlement. I think there is no law regarding this.

    1. Wait… you mean it’s legal to flow lava down to the city?

      Wow…

      😀

      1. I guess they should just outlaw it then… Of course, it’s gonna be kind of hard to lock up a volcano.

  10. hi everyone

    great news, the eldogs i grimsvotum web cam is on line now. the first does’nt work yet but last of them does. not much to see . could some one show the location of these cams please.

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