Eyjafjallajokull (Eyjafjallajökull) Volcano and 2010 Eruption Exhibition
Eyjafjallajokull (Eyjafjallajökull) Volcano and 2010 Eruption Exhibition
To the north of road 1, as you drive along the south coast between Seljalandsfoss and Skogar, you may catch glimpses of the famous Eyjafjallajokull glacier and volcano. This 800,000-year-old snow-capped volcano rose to fame in April 2010 when its eruption halted much of Europe’s air traffic.
The 1666m high volcano had shunned the limelight and only erupted three times since the settlement, the previous eruption being in 1821. The 2010 eruption was in two stages – in March 2010 a classic ash and lava fissure eruption on the flank of the mountain and in April and May an explosive ash eruption from the ice-filled summit crater. Flash floods cut the roads, while ash rained down on the farms along the coast where the 800 inhabitants and their livestock were evacuated.
Bizarrely in Reykajvik, it was business as usual, and Iceland’s main airports were unaffected. The farmers at Þorvaldseyri were badly affected by the eruption and filmed the experience day by day as they coped with very difficult circumstances. At the end of the eruption, they opened a small museum by the side of road 1 and showed the film they made about their life during and after the eruption.