Today marks the nine-year-anniversary of Eyjafjallajökull’s mighty 2010 eruption, an explosion that created an ash plume so large that much of mainland Europe’s airspace was forced to close.
Located on Iceland’s South Coast, Eyjafjallajökull (meaning “Mountain Island Glacier”) is one of the country’s smaller ice caps. Shielding an active volcano from view, the ice expands an astonishing 100 square kilometres, only proving the gargantuan nature of Iceland’s glaciers.
The eruptions began with a small explosion on 20th March 2010, an expected consequence of recorded seismic activity at the end of 2009—over 3000 earthquakes in the vicinity of the volcano were documented in March alone. This was known as Fimmvörðuháls Pass eruption, which opened a 500-metre fissure in the Southern Highlands.
Photo: Hrönn Gudmundsdóttir Wallach
Read more: https://now.guidetoiceland.is/2019/04/14/news/9-years-since-eyjafjallajokull-eruption-in-iceland/