Volcanic eruption begins under Iceland’s largest glacier
Earthquake location 23 Aug 20:30 GMT
Time and magnitude of earthquake 23 Aug 20:30 GMT
Small eruption under Dyngjujkull
- A small lava-eruption has been detected under the Dyngjujkull glacier.
- The Icelandic Coast Guard airplane TF-SIF is flying over the area with representatives from the Civil Protection and experts from the Icelandic Met Office and the Institute of Earth Sciences. Data from the equipment on board is expected later today.
- Data from radars and web-cameras is being received, showing no signs of changes at the surface.
- The estimate is that 150-400 meters of ice is above the area.
- The aviation color code for the Brarbunga volcano has been changed from orange to red .
- Some minutes ago (14:04), an earthquake occurred, estimated 4.5 in magnitude.
- Bardarbunga is part of a large volcano system hidden beneath the 500-metre (0.31-mile) thick Vatnajokull glacier in central Iceland.
- Authorities have previously warned that any eruption in the volcano, which sits under an ice cap, could result in flooding of the area north of the glacier.
- The eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in April 2010 caused the largest closure of European airspace since World War Two.
- Criticism following the strictly enforced shutdown resulted in the UK's Civil Aviation Authority relaxing its rules to allow planes to fly in areas with a low density of volcanic ash.
Tourists are being evacuated
Even because of this small event many precautions are being taken. The Jkulsrgljfur canyon has been closed and tourists are being evacuated out of there as well as from the Dettifoss waterfall area.
People in Kelduhverfi, xarfjrur and Npasveit are encouraged to watch the news closely in case they will have to evacuate.
Update at 4:05 pm
Scientists onboard the Coast Guard aircraft TF-Sif do not detect any visible signs of an volcanic eruption.
All Icelandic airports are open. Airspace, 140*100 nautical miles, is closed over the sub-glacial eruption site in Vatnajkull.
It is now estimated that the glacier is about 500 meters thick about the eruption and it's not sure if the lava will ever make it through.
Ref Articles:
http://iceagenow.info/2014/08/volcanic-eruption-begins-icelands-and-europes-largest-glacier/
http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/vatnajokull
http://www.newsoficeland.com/eco/item/525-volcanic-eruption-in-iceland-has-begun
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Has the potential to raise havoc with the air travel in this area.
That's what happened with the last one . Are the emissions of ash dependent on the strength of the eruption ?
According to everything I have been able to find I think it's safe to say that without a substantial eruption the ash release would be little to none.
Update:
Volcano News: Iceland goes from emergency phase back to alert phase
Main Points :
Seismic activity
There has been high seismic activity in Dyngjujkull in Norther Vatnajkull glacier since midnight. Over 700 earthquakes were detected from midnight to noon. Two earthquakes around and over 5 were detected in Brarbunga caldera. The first one, size 5,3 occurred at 00:09 HRS at the Northern edge of Brarbunga caldera. The latter occurred at 05:33 HRS, size ca. 5 at the Southern edge of the caldera. Both earthquakes happened at around 5 km depth.
Those are the largest events in the swirm that started over a week ago and also the largest earthquakes since before the eruption in Gjlp volcano in Vatnajkull glacier in 1996. The activity under Dyngjujkull has propagated northwards and is now mostly under the edge of the glacier, where an earthquake of size 4,2 was recorded this morning. The dyke under Dyngjujkull is now estimated to be approximately 30 km long.
There are no signs of an eruption. Observations show that a sub-glacial eruption did not occur yesterday. The intense low-frequency seismic signal observed yesterday has therefore other explanations.
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