Eruption has started in Iceland (20-Mar-2010)

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland (20-Mar-2010)
From: gnu
Date: 27 May 10 - 05:50 PM

There are better sites, but I can't find them right off.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland (20-Mar-2010)
From: gnu
Date: 27 May 10 - 05:38 PM

John.... "Most significant eruptions give a short notice, via earth tremblers, for a short time before a blow."

Ahhh... that is what has happened over the past several days. skarpi felt one...

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland (20-Mar-2010)
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 27 May 10 - 05:23 PM

The article says that a "magma intrusion" has been detected, which usually is something that happens prior to volcano eruption; but that thus far the earthquake activity that would be expected immediately prior to one has not been apparent. Most significant eruptions give a short notice, via earth tremblers, for a short time before a blow.

This implies that it's not quite KYAG time, but the warning is that people be aware and "stay tuned for the news."

The most evident "target" for the warning appears to be those who need to do some long-range planning for how to handle the discruptions in world-wide weather, travel, communications, and such that could be much worse than the flight delays that had everyone screaming recently.

While there have been many comments by politicians and "commentors" there is little evidence of other than cursory evaluation of the actual damages caused by the previous dust plumes, much less any real preparation to limit the impact of subsequent similar events.

The current warning is a real one, but the news release is mostly a call for somebody to form a "6P Committee" - soon.

John

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland (20-Mar-2010)
From: gnu
Date: 27 May 10 - 10:21 AM

skarpi said he was aware of the activity over the past days.

I am sure EVERY Icelander is.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland (20-Mar-2010)
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 27 May 10 - 08:35 AM

They say soon, but how soon is soon?

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland (20-Mar-2010)
From: SINSULL
Date: 27 May 10 - 08:15 AM

And now a word from Katla:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37371442/ns/world_news-europe/

It was just a matter of time. Hope Skarpi is paying close attention.
SINS

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland (20-Mar-2010)
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 04 May 10 - 10:14 AM

Not any more. It only closed from 7.00-13.00. Flights are resuming as normal.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland (20-Mar-2010)
From: SINSULL
Date: 04 May 10 - 10:08 AM

Irish airspace is closed.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland (20-Mar-2010)
From: gnu
Date: 03 May 10 - 05:32 PM

Again?

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland (20-Mar-2010)
From: Jack Campin
Date: 30 Apr 10 - 08:12 AM

For the rest of Europe, the worst Katla eruption in recent centuries was that of 1625, which caused catastrophic famine across northern Europe. In Scotland, this was the main impetus for the development of the coal industry - the summer was so cold and wet that peat never dried out enough to burn, adding an acute energy shortage to the misery of famine, flooding, cold and toxic smog. This seems to have caused more loss of life in Scotland than any other natural disaster since the Black Death. (And presumably the rest of northern Europe, at least - Scotland happens to be the place I know most about). Other years when it seems to have had an effect on conditions in Scotland: 1722 (following the 1721 eruption), gales causing massive crop destruction; 1755-6, famine. It may have contributed to the three-year famine of the early 1580s, but the 1580 eruption seems not to have been prolonged enough to explain all that on its own; maybe Billy Mitchell in Bougainville Island was responsible (much bigger than any Icelandic volcano). The 1755-6 eruption may have had some effect on the Seven Years War, which was ultimately what made the independence of the US possible - Britain and France beating each other senseless after a war motivated by scarcity allowed a new force to emerge.

According to this page, Katla always blows up with much the same power (within one order of magnitude):

Historical record

There's been a substantial variation in its wider effect, though.

Northern Europe always gets more affected by Icelandic eruptions than anywhere else - Britain in particular. Coming on top of the present economic crisis and peak oil in the North Sea fields, a major Katla eruption (wiping out most UK agriculture for a year or two) would put the British economy some way below where Greece is now and finally obliterate the British delusion of being a "world power".

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland (20-Mar-2010)
From: GUEST,amy
Date: 30 Apr 10 - 06:56 AM

what would happen if mount katla erupted???

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland (20-Mar-2010)
From: SINSULL
Date: 15 Apr 10 - 08:37 AM

refresh

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: SINSULL
Date: 14 Apr 10 - 05:04 PM

Katla may be coming alive:
Authorities monitoring Iceland's Katla volcano after eruption near glacier
By D. Scriber l Published: Monday, March 22 2010 17:25
Authorities are closely monitoring the Eyjafjallajokull and Myrdalsjokull glaciers in Iceland following a rare volcanic eruption in the country over the weekend that forced the evacuation of hundreds of people. Scientists have engaged in aerial surveys of the region to see if residents may return. Molten lava spewed from a rupture of the Katla volcano near the Eyjafjallajokull glacier over the weekend, as seen in the video below. RUV news in Iceland reported small earthquakes near the volcanic eruption early Monday, but worldwide earthquake data from the U.S. Geological Survey failed to confirm the activity. Katla is considered one of the most dangerous volcanos in Iceland and authorities, according to news reports, have a safety plan in place should it go off.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: gnu
Date: 14 Apr 10 - 08:06 AM

2 hours, 5 minutes ago

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - A volcanic eruption in southern Iceland spewed black smoke and white steam into the air on Wednesday and partially melted a glacier, forcing hundreds to evacuate from the thinly populated area.

The plume was seen rising from a crater under about 200 meters (656 ft) of ice at the Eyjafjallajokull glacier, close to the site of another eruption which started last month and only died down on Monday, Icelandic state radio reported.

The Icelandic Civil Defense Authority ordered 700 people to evacuate their homes and warned that melting ice could set off floods at a nearby river, which had already risen by 84 centimeters (33 inches), the radio said.

A coast guard plane flying overhead was able to spot an opening in the glacier, but no lava or fire was immediately visible due to low clouds, the report said.

Icelandic scientists had measured increased seismic activity near the glacier about two hours before the volcano started to erupt in the early morning on Wednesday, it added.

In March, another volcano erupted near the Eyjafjallajokull glacier and caused no casualties.

The volcano, situated beneath Iceland's fifth largest glacier, has erupted five times since Iceland was settled in the ninth century.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: Noreen
Date: 28 Mar 10 - 07:39 AM

NASA pictures of the eruption

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: Arnie
Date: 26 Mar 10 - 07:31 AM

Jack C - I stand corrected. Just had another look at the newspaper article and it was indeed an eruption in 1783. In the interest of factual accuracy, thanks for clearing that up!

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: Noreen
Date: 26 Mar 10 - 05:45 AM

Volcano web-cam

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: skarpi
Date: 25 Mar 10 - 08:26 PM

http://mila.is/um-milu/vefmyndavelar/eyjafjallajokull-fra-thorolfsfelli/

live web cam from the eruption ....

kv Skarpi

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 25 Mar 10 - 04:45 PM

The thought occurs that with all their use of geothermal power, just turning on all the hot water taps should extract enough heat to cool the lava that might be approaching the surface, thereby avoiding any additional eruptions - at least for a time.

So perhaps a national campaign to have every person in Iceland take a hot shower (all at the same time to encourage a united participation) should be a big help. ...

...

...

But with the sparse population, maybe the couple of hundred gallons of spilled water wouldn't make much difference.

We'd need a knowledgeable local person to assess how effective it might be.

John

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: gnu
Date: 25 Mar 10 - 02:17 PM

Well, since the UK has not helped Iceland with their debt, Odin is gonna kich some ash again.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: skarpi
Date: 25 Mar 10 - 01:39 PM

jabb Jack ,and 20 % of my nation died ...

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: Jack Campin
Date: 25 Mar 10 - 10:14 AM

Read in today's paper that there was a huge volcanic eruption in Iceland in the early 1700's and the dust thrown into the atmosphere completely ruined the summer here in the UK. Even worse, it disrupted the monsoon rains and caused drought and famine in Africa and Asia.

Late 18th century - Laki, 1783-5. More than "ruined the summer", there was a huge death toll from cold and hunger, and catastrophic famine in Shetland.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: SINSULL
Date: 25 Mar 10 - 09:44 AM

Wonder if Odin could be appeased by tossing the executives of the Baugur Group into a volcano?
He certainly has a lot to be angry about.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: skarpi
Date: 25 Mar 10 - 08:22 AM

well Mary , only the gods but they said if a volcano erupted
that someone had turned the gods to anger .

it was connected yes to the ( Heiðni trú ) or I think you call it Pagan
faith ..

many Icelanders today quit the luthern faith and go back to the old faith , viking faith ....is what we call Heiðni trú .

I am thinking about it .. becouse I don´t like the way the
Luthern church here in Iceland is going .

so maybe next year I will taken the viking faith , and start have faith in Odinn and thor ..and all the others :O)

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: SINSULL
Date: 25 Mar 10 - 08:14 AM

Skarpi,
This is going to sound likke a silly question but I am going to ask anyway. Did the early Icelandics worship the volcanoes as gods or at least personalities? I would think it would be hard not to.
Mary

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: skarpi
Date: 25 Mar 10 - 07:19 AM

oh dear .....

no worry yet , the big one the Katla is still a sleep ...

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: Arnie
Date: 25 Mar 10 - 07:08 AM

Read in today's paper that there was a huge volcanic eruption in Iceland in the early 1700's and the dust thrown into the atmosphere completely ruined the summer here in the UK. Even worse, it disrupted the monsoon rains and caused drought and famine in Africa and Asia. This could have more of an impact than the Icelandic banking crisis!!

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 24 Mar 10 - 10:47 PM

Skarpi's link:

http://www.ruv.is/frett/nyjar-myndir-fra-eldstodvunum

AND:

Video.

(Note that the pictures continue after the talking stops, so don't click off too soon.)

John

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 24 Mar 10 - 01:19 PM

Thanks for the link, Skarpi.

I've been to Iceland twice, and I love it.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: skarpi
Date: 24 Mar 10 - 11:42 AM

http://www.ruv.is/frett/nyjar-myndir-fra-eldstodvunum

new pictures ...from the eruptions taken this morning ..

on this website you can watch and get more pictures
I am told that there is video coming soon .. on this site .

kv Skarpi

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: skarpi
Date: 24 Mar 10 - 10:20 AM

thanks :O) but I can´t I stuck at moment on this Island ,,
can´t go anywhere .... If I go abroad , I loose my benefits
thats the law ....but hang on there ..there must be a job me there somewhere . :O)

kv Skarpi

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Mar 10 - 10:16 AM

Forget Maine, Skarpi -- come visit with me here in Idaho! Mountains, nice weather (but not too warm), even (currently inactive) volcanoes, hot springs to soak in...great place.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: SINSULL
Date: 24 Mar 10 - 08:32 AM

Pack up your bags and your family and come visit snowy Maine (no snow this year) Skarpi until it all blows over. Minimal earthquakes, no volcanoes but an occasional nor'easter that is usually fun.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: skarpi
Date: 24 Mar 10 - 04:55 AM

Ebbie we have about 40 min to 3 hours to move people away
from the area if this goes on the worst....

and we don´t know what time or day .....when eruptions
happens here there has always been earthquakes before it , it did
not happen this time ?? so that is the strange thing here ,
we have to try to understand and learn from , I think if Katla
is going to take the top of :O) she will let us know with a good earthquakes ...4 or 5 on richter scale ...that volcano is big ..
my most worry is will blow or mot .....

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: Noreen
Date: 24 Mar 10 - 04:07 AM

Ebbie- nobody knows, that is the point!

If eruptions and earthquakes were predictable, people wouldn't be caught out as they often are.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 23 Mar 10 - 11:25 PM

Two comments here:

Ebbie doesn't read links.

Ebbie doesn't read links.

(I'd add a "smiley" but I hate them things ; > )

John

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: Ebbie
Date: 23 Mar 10 - 08:27 PM

Two questions/comments here:

OK- so Katla follows with an eruption of its own when its partner erupts. Does anyone have any information on the timeline?   Hours? Days? Weeks? Months? Years?

The other thing: I have no doubt but that JohninKansas saw a broadcast by MSNBC or whoever but his link led to an article written by an Icelander. So should we ease up on the media?

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 23 Mar 10 - 07:55 PM

Maybe Skarpi should be monitoring on his own - - ?

Ordinary laptops act as earthquake detectors

Quake-Catcher software taps into laptop accelerometer to detect shaking

By Stephanie Pappas
TechNewsDaily
updated 4:58 p.m. CT, Tues., March. 23, 2010

Most people use their laptops for work and Web browsing. Now you can add one more task to that list: earthquake detection.

From the recent early-morning 4.4-magnitude jostle in Los Angeles to February's magnitude 8.8 disaster in Chile, ordinary laptops are increasingly acting as miniature seismic stations. They're part of a volunteer army known as the Quake-Catcher Network, which takes advantage of built-in accelerometers in newer laptops to transmit data about earthquakes to researchers at UC Riverside and Stanford University.

About 1,000 people from 61 countries have signed up so far. If the network gets large enough, researchers say, it could act as a low-cost earthquake warning system.

"It's providing additional data that can be fed into the seismic networks," said Elizabeth Cochran, a UC Riverside geoscientist. "It also allows us to record earthquakes at a scale that we haven't been able to before because of the cost."

Cochran came up with the idea for the Quake-Catcher Network when she learned that most new laptops come equipped with accelerometers. These motion-detecting devices are designed to switch off the hard drive if the laptop is dropped.

"I figured that we could easily tap into this data and use it to record earthquakes," Cochran said.

The Quake-Catcher software program, downloadable at qcn.stanford.edu, runs in the background on the laptop and becomes active when the user is idle.

When the accelerometers detect a quake, the program automatically transmits data about the type and intensity of shaking over the Internet to the researchers.

[end quote - more at the link]

Resolution isn't too good, with about a 4.0 being the smallest quake detected. I'd likely be out in the street long before that, but it might make a nice hobby in more active areas. And I didn't see anything about how to tell whether your laptop has the necessary accelerometers.

John

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: SINSULL
Date: 23 Mar 10 - 04:28 PM

Mostly keep you and yours safe.
But it has to be a bit exciting. We all saw Pierce Brosnan ride his jeep down the lava flow and out to safety - very realistic...heh heh

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: skarpi
Date: 23 Mar 10 - 04:10 PM

in the tv news tonight , they tell us that will be going on for weeks or months ?? and the pressure under the glacier is still going up
well that is not a good news ......that mean s the magma
could go over to Katla ..... bit by bit ..but who know s
only the future ...

but I am easy on this , I fled VestmannIsland 1973 and I am
also trained rescue man .. we have been trained well for
a happening like this ..we will deal with it in the easy way ..:O)

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: robomatic
Date: 23 Mar 10 - 04:07 PM

skarpi:

I'm thinking of you and wishing you an adventure without consequences. May it be exciting but harmless. I'm sure if you're at work there is a website you can find that will keep you updated.

I don't know how to say "Be Well" "Be Safe" in Icelandic. So Be Well and Be Safe.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: robomatic
Date: 23 Mar 10 - 04:02 PM

We have several active volcanos about 100 miles away give or take, we've been dusted three times memorably in my memory and one very very fine dusting briefly last year. Then i was working in a large building downtown and our safety person was daily giving us emergency briefings about flare-ups that, IF the wind was blowing the right way, COULD bring some dust to town and initiate problems for folks with emphysema or asthma. Over the weekends we put plastic bags over our terminals and computers, but my 'favorite' day was after news of a flare-up, again a hundred miles away, the safety person brought our servers down and it took the rest of the day to get them up and running.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: SINSULL
Date: 23 Mar 10 - 03:29 PM

I got the point, John. I was joking when I mentioned you as Chicken Little.

We have the same problem with weathermen here. If there is the slightest chance that snow will turn to SNOW, they hype it. 2" forecast and we get 2 feet. 2 foot forecast and we get a couple of hours of rain if anything. We actually had a school closure based on their forecasts and nothing happened.

Now I don't even check the weather other than the National Weather forecast.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: frogprince
Date: 23 Mar 10 - 03:25 PM

Stay tuned for "As the World Burps".

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 23 Mar 10 - 03:16 PM

It seems that several people missed my point.

What I intended to make clear was that major international news media, and specifically MSNBC, didn't feel that the eruption in Iceland was worth reporting at all, until they figured a way to blast it out of proportion and turn it into a fable devoid of truth and honesty and make it LOOK LIKE a looming disaster.

My suggestion will continue to be that people in Iceland should listen to their local informed advisors, and everybody should treat reports by the international "news" media with due suspicion.

John

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: SINSULL
Date: 23 Mar 10 - 02:08 PM

Yeah it did:
http://volcanism.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/eyjafjallajokull-and-katla-restless-neighbours/

Scientists are concerned that Katla may erupt. The press will jump on that because it attracts readers. No one is suggesting a mass evacuation except JohninKansas and he wants to evacuate the world.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: skarpi
Date: 23 Mar 10 - 02:08 PM

Leenia , yes there is a big magma under Katla .. Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland's Institute of Earth Science
showed us on the tV last night what is goin on ....and I hope
Katla sleeps for a little bit longer ....becouse its a
tikking bomb ..

There are three large magma places in the mountain .....and the one in middle is the biggest ....on each side there are two smaller , but still big , and they are I tihnk the word is sour ...what ever that means .
but I understand thats not a good sign .

kv Skarpi

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: Jack Campin
Date: 23 Mar 10 - 12:44 PM

"Scientists say history has proven that when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupts, Katla follows

The last one was in the 1820s, and Kafla didn't go boom then.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: SINSULL
Date: 23 Mar 10 - 11:51 AM

Some more info from Icelandic geophysicists:
"The volcano has been inflating since the beginning of the year, both rising and swelling," said Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland's Institute of Earth Science. "Even though we were seeing increased seismic activity, it could have been months or years before we saw an eruption like this ... we couldn't say that there was an imminent risk for the area."

Einarsson and Gudmundsson said the eruption could trigger a more damaging eruption at the nearby Karla volcano, which lies under the thick Myrdalsjokull icecap and threatens massive flooding and explosive blasts if it erupts.

"One of the possible scenarios we're looking at is that this small eruption could bring about something bigger. This said, we can't speculate on when that could happen," Einarsson told The Associated Press.

Iceland, a nation of 320,000 people, sits on a large volcanic hot spot in the Atlantic's mid-oceanic ridge. Volcanic eruptions, common throughout Iceland's history, are often triggered by seismic activity when the Earth's plates move and when magma from deep underground pushes it's way to the surface.

Subject: RE: Eruption has started in Iceland just now
From: Stu
Date: 23 Mar 10 - 11:49 AM

Also, the volcanoes of Iceland of of a different type to the Pacific Rim cones which occur over subducting plate boundaries and are dangerous because of their explosive nature (a la Mount St. Helens); they tend to behave differently due to their relationship with the various types of plate boundary.

As I understand it, the mid-atlantic ridge rises above sea-level at Iceland and I did't think it was above a mantle plume. Interesting stuff.


"So we should evacuate all of Iceland, San Fransico Bay area, etc. etc.?"

This is an interesting point our nameless friend has made. In truth, people ignore the warnings of vulcanologists, geologists and others when deciding where to live until it's too late. Many areas of human habitation encroach into zones many scientists will tell you are dangerous to live in. There's real concern about this, and near volcanoes like Vesuvius they are trying to persuade people not to live near the areas where pyroclastic flows might occur.