GLOBAL VOLCANISM: Earthquake Strikes The Bardarbunga Volcano In Iceland - Around 15 Aftershocks In Just A Few Hours!

Bárðarbunga volcano. © Rax / Ragnar Axelsson

April 9, 2016 - ICELAND - There was a major earthquake on the northern edge of the Bárðarbunga volcanic craters at around midnight last night.

The quake measured 4.2 on the Richter scale and is therefore the largest quake to have hit the famous volcano since it stopped erupting in February last year.

According to Bjarki Fries, a natural disasters specialist with the Icelandic met office, the earthquake emanated from 3.5 kilometers underground.

Around 15 aftershocks have already been measured, the most powerful of which was a 3.5 quake at 01.00 this morning.

Met office earthquakes specialist Martin Hensch told RÚV that there is no evidence of lava movements or of any eruption activity connected to the earthquakes, but that the situation will be monitored carefully.

There were two quakes in the same location on April 3, measuring 3.4 and 3 on the Richter scale.

The recent eruption at Bárðarbunga, often known as Holuhraun, lasted from late August 2014 to late February 2015, and despite not affecting aviation or physically threatening any human settlements, it caused dangerous levels of pollution around Iceland and produced more new lava than almost any other eruption in Iceland since the Vikings first arrived. - Iceland Review.

 

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: Iceland Volcano Creating Field Of Lava And A Surreal Looking Landscape - Changes The Course Of A Nearby River; Leaving Craters 100 FEET DEEP That Will Last THOUSANDS OF YEARS; Causing Environmental Issues!

The lava has created a truly surreal look on the landscape in Iceland. (NBC)

April 8, 2015 - ICELAND - An erupting volcano in Iceland is creating a surreal looking landscape a field of lava.

The volcano is sending out a steady stream of lava, causing a nearby river to start running straight through the lava.

It's creating an area with deep craters that scientists say will last thousands of years.

However, it's causing some environmental issues.


WATCH: Erupting volcano causes environmental issues in Iceland.

Scientists said the fiery hot lava is producing heavy gas pollution in the air.

That thick sulfur is being monitored very closely by experts right now.

The entire area is being heavily guarded, to make sure curious tourists don't try to get close. - KRISTV.

MONUMENTAL GLOBAL VOLCANISM: NASA’s Earth Observatory Reveals That Lava Flow From The Holuhraun Lava Field In Iceland May Now Be THE BIGGEST IN 200 YEARS - A Total Of 32 SQUARE MILES, Larger Than The Island Of Manhattan!

Holuhraun lava flow on Jan. 3, taken by the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8. (Jesse Allen and Josh Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory)

January 12, 2015 - ICELAND - Bigger than the island of Manhattan, the lava flow from the Holuhraun lava field in Iceland is now the largest the country has seen in more than 200 years, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory.

Since August of last year, massive amounts of lava have been spewing from a fissure that erupted in Iceland’s largely uninhabited Bárðarbunga volcanic system.

The infrared images below show the Holuhraun lava flow from Sept. 6, 2014, left, and Jan. 3, 2015, right. The pictures were captured by the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8. (Jesse Allen and Josh Stevens/ NASA Earth Observatory)

In the past six months, the lava flow spread a total of 32 square miles, making it now the largest lava flow since the 1783–84 Laki eruption that wiped out 20 percent of Iceland’s population.

According to the University of Iceland’s Institute of Earth Sciences, the eastern part of the lava field was about 30 feet thick, and the center and western parts were about 40 feet thick.

Adam Voiland of NASA wrote: “While Holuhraun continues to spew copious amounts of lava and sulfur dioxide, some observations suggest the eruption may be slowing down. … This doesn’t mean that the eruption will stop soon. Like the weakening spray from an aerosol can, the eruption rate declines exponentially. The lower the flow, the more slowly it declines.” - Washington Post.

MONUMENTAL GLOBAL VOLCANISM: The Bardarbunga Volcano Erupts With Massive Lava Flow - Forces Icelanders To Hide; Lava Field Covers 70 SQUARE KILOMETERS, An Area Larger Than Manhattan; Over 200 Earthquakes In The Area In Just 3 Days; Authorities On High Alert!

Photographer: Bernard Meric/AFP via Getty Images

November 12, 2014 - ICELAND - Bardarbunga volcano’s lava field now covers 65 square kilometers (25 square miles) and the amount of lava that has been spewed out equals about 1 cubic kilometer (0.24 cubic miles).

For the kids at the Graenuvellir kindergarten in Husavik, north Iceland, going out to play was not an option.

They were kept inside on Nov. 4 to protect them from sulfur-dioxide gases spewing from the Holuhraun lava field near the Bardarbunga volcano. The eruption has been going for almost three months and shows no sign of stopping. Red-hot lava has spread 70 square kilometers (27 square miles), covering an area larger than Manhattan.

“On regular days the kids go out to play to take in the fresh air, but that’s not really possible or safe under the current conditions,” Agusta Palsdottir, a manager at the kindergarten, which has 125 children between the ages of one and six, said in a Nov. 4 interview.

Icelanders can only wait for nature to run its course as they monitor how gas clouds drift across the island, itself a product of volcanic activity. As descendants of Viking settlers 1,200 years ago, Icelanders have learned to coexist with their volcanoes and to harness their power. Yet some events have proven deadlier than others. In the late 1700s, an eruption triggered a famine that killed 25 percent of Iceland’s population.

Tracking Gas

“There’s exactly nothing you can do, aside from going inside,” said Kristjan Thor Magnusson, mayor of Nordurthing, the municipality that includes Husavik, a 2,200-person town famous for its whale watching. “People that are more sensitive than others need to avoid physical exertion outside and try to stay inside and warm up their houses to prevent the gas from getting inside.”

The discomfort of the Graenuvellir kids is also being felt in other towns across Iceland long after the rest of the world stopped fretting over potential disruptions to trans-Atlantic air travel. The island’s Met Office tracks which way the sulfur-dioxide blows daily from the fissure that opened up in the lava field that dates back to an eruption from 1797.

“Which town is affected depends only on weather and winds,” Bergthora S. Thorbjarnardottir, a geophysicist at the Met Office, said in an interview.

Bardarbunga, one of Iceland’s largest volcanoes, began rumbling on Aug. 16. An eruption then started from a fissure 300 meters (984 feet) long and has since been moving northeast, away from the ice. An eruption under the ice of the glacier covering the volcano could cause an explosion that would spew ash into the air and disrupt air travel.

Quakes Continue

Since Nov. 7, about 200 earthquakes have rocked the area surrounding the eruption site, with the biggest one of about magnitude 5.2 measured yesterday evening. Iceland’s Civil Protection Agency today warned that gas pollution was expected mainly in the western part of the country.

At the beginning of the eruption, airlines were put on alert for a potential repeat of 2010, when a volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull ice cap spewed a column of ash 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) into the air. That event shut airspace across Europe for six days, forcing carriers to cancel more than 100,000 flights. Ash is a danger because the glass-like particles can damage jet engines.

Most Vulnerable

While the current eruption isn’t the largest on record, it’s being compared to the 1783 Lakagigar blowout, which lasted for seven to eight months and eventually covered 600 square kilometers in lava, Thorbjarnardottir said.

“There’s still a chance that the eruption in Holuhraun will pose a risk to international air travel,” she said. “Although there’s quite a bit of activity in the crater of Bardarbunga volcano, the activity does seem to be moving northeast, away from the ice cap.”

The government has issued warnings on the health risks. Exposure to sulfur-dioxide can cause irritation in the eyes, throat and lungs. High levels can lead to breathing difficulties. Children are the most vulnerable, according to the Health Directorate.

“Personally, I can feel the contamination a little,” said Palsdottir at the kindergarten. “Breathing is a little uncomfortable and it’s uncomfortable staying outside when the contamination comes in over our town.”
So most Icelanders are just hoping the wind blows the right way and also for rain to damp the gas clouds.

They may be in luck, according to the Met Office.

“Wind and rain is the best thing to happen for Icelanders while the eruption continues,” said Thorbjarnardottir. “Iceland usually has plenty of that.” - Bloomberg.