Massive volcanic eruption from Iceland(August 2014-February 2015)

[Vawmataw]

Don't worry, you are in Canada...

I know.

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

Don't worry, you are in Canada... As the wind are usually comes from west, I don't think the US/CA will see ashes of that volcano. Also, Iceland's volcanoes are not like those volcanoes in Indonesia or Andes...

But for one thing, it will be bad for American passangers. If there are some Americans that wanna travel to Europe, then they will not be able to travel across the Atlantic. But, it has already been tested that newer types of aircrafts are able to handle ash clouds from volcanoes.

[archaic]

I heard a report on the radio that it's died down now, down graded from red back to orange.
Did they get it wrong?

[Tìtstewan]

Maybe this was just a mini eruption. But volcanoes can surprise us...
I've read that there is still volcanic activity.

[Vawmataw]

Did they get it wrong?

Maybe yes, maybe no. Scientists will not know some details until the day on which the eruption will happen. *suspense*

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

Is there any history of Icelandic volcanoes behaving like this? That's a lot of energy to build up, and then have damp down suddenly.

Hmmm... A magnmatic hotspot centered on a rift zone? In the words of Miles Quaritch, "Now that's a powerful combination".

[archaic]

.Gives me the goose bumps.

[Vawmataw]

More news for you guys.
A stronger earthquake stroke. Its magnitude was 5.7. So it's coming...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/iceland-volcano-bardarbunga-hit-by-most-powerful-earthquake-since-eruption-fears-began-9690450.html

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

More news for you guys.
A stronger earthquake stroke. Its magnitude was 5.7. So it's coming...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/iceland-volcano-bardarbunga-hit-by-most-powerful-earthquake-since-eruption-fears-began-9690450.html

I saw that one on an earthquake monitoring app I have. 5.7 is getting up there in the energy range. With a quake that strong, I think its safe to say there is going to be some sort of eruption.

[Vawmataw]

I recommend you to visit this website if you're interested in the seismic activity of the volcano. This link shows all the earthquakes in the region of Vatnajökull, so look for Bárðarbunga. You will also see this: Earthquakes shown. Select Magnitude 3 and larger. http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/vatnajokull/#view=table

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

I recommend you to visit this website if you're interested in the seismic activity of the volcano. This link shows all the earthquakes in the region of Vatnajökull, so look for Bárðarbunga. You will also see this: Earthquakes shown. Select Magnitude 3 and larger. http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/vatnajokull/#view=table

That is a fantastic resource, precisely what I was looking for. irayo nìtxan!!

And I notice there have been two m5+ earthquakes in the last few hours. The activity seems to be in two different, but fairly close together areas. Is it possible there may be more than one eruption?

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

I recommend you to visit this website if you're interested in the seismic activity of the volcano. This link shows all the earthquakes in the region of Vatnajökull, so look for Bárðarbunga. You will also see this: Earthquakes shown. Select Magnitude 3 and larger. http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/vatnajokull/#view=table

That is a fantastic resource, precisely what I was looking for. irayo nìtxan!!

And I notice there have been two m5+ earthquakes in the last few hours. The activity seems to be in two different, but fairly close together areas. Is it possible there may be more than one eruption?

Correct. There has been observed that the magma under the Bardarbunga volcano is on the move to an another magma chamber under the Askja volcano and the eruption can be bigger than expected.

[Vawmataw]

"We know there is a lot of molten rock sitting under the ground beneath Askja, which is a major volcanic system. If this molten rock hits that, we know it is likely to trigger it to erupt.

"But who knows, it may just stop. It is still at 5km-depth, and it is possible it could freeze there and not a lot more will happen. That is perfectly plausible."

[...]

"Magma could be heading along a dyke towards Askja, which last erupted in 1961, or it might bypass it and be injected northwards along a fissure that passes to the east of Askja, where there have been several earthquakes in the past week," he told BBC News.

"In neither case is an eruption inevitable. Many dykes never reach the surface.

[Vawmataw]

Well, the intensity of the earthquakes diminishes: Today, the magnitude of the largest earthquake is 5.0 and yesterday it was 5.4.

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

Last night, in local time there was a small eruption from the volcano, so the warning level have been again raised to red. The eruption wasn't too serious, but there must be no air traffic in the area.
But now the volcano alert has been lowered once again, because there has been observed that the lava is streaming within a 1km long fissure north of the Vatnajokull glacier
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/08/29/uk-iceland-volcano-idUKKBN0GT0AU20140829

Iceland reduced its aviation warning level to orange on Friday after concluding that a small eruption in the Bardarbunga volcano system that triggered a hours-long red alert actually posed no threat to aircraft.
No sign of ash like that from the Eyjafjallajokull eruption that shut much of Europe's air space in 2010 has been detected this time. But the Icelandic Metrological Office said a no-fly zone in a radius of 3 nautical miles just above the Bardarbunga volcano in central Iceland would remain in effect.
"The small eruption is not a threat to aviation and the published aviation warning area has been cancelled," the Met Office said in a statement.

Iceland's largest volcanic system, which cuts a 190-km (118-mile)-long and up to 25-km-(15.5-mile)-wide swathe across the North Atlantic island, has been hit by thousands of earthquakes over the last two weeks and scientists have been on high alert in case of an eruption.
Reykjavik's Met Office said that just after midnight an estimated 1-km-long fissure eruption began in a lava field north of the Vatnajokull glacier, which covers part of the Bardarbunga system.
While the risk of an ash cloud is highest in case of a sub-glacial eruption, Icelandic authorities for a few hours raised the aviation warning level to red, the highest on a five-colour scale and indicating that an eruption is imminent or under way, with a risk of spewing ash.
The latest eruption was at the tip of a magma dyke 40 km from the main Bardarbunga crater and activity subsided to relatively low levels after peaking between 0020 and 0200 GMT (1.20 a.m. and 3 a.m. BST), Met Office seismologist Martin Hensch said earlier.

He said that it was impossible to say how the eruption would develop.
"One of the concerns is that the fissure opens into the glacier but presently there is no sign of that happening," he said, adding that the eruption was 6-8 km from the glacier.
Nick Petford, a vulcanology expert at the University of Northampton in Britain, said fissure eruptions were often spectacular, but relatively low key and often died out in a couple of days. But there could be a sting in the tail, he said.

"Exactly the same thing happened in 2010 with the Eyjafjallajokull volcano," Petford said. "The main eruption was in April, but in March there was a fissure eruption which was a precursor to the much larger eruption."
The Eyjafjallajokull event was particularly disruptive because it pushed ash up to precisely the elevation used by transatlantic aircraft, while prevailing winds propelled the cloud into European air space. The ash was also particularly sticky due to its chemical composition.
Petford said that if the current eruption subsided, scientists would be looking for signs of more quakes deeper under the volcano, which would suggest more magma was welling up, and for any swelling of the volcano that could be measured using GPS.
"Those are pretty clear evidence that large amounts of magma are being stored within the volcano and that's a good indication it will explode."

[Vawmataw]

I've read that the volcano erupted.

"Exactly the same thing happened in 2010 with the Eyjafjallajokull volcano," Petford said. "The main eruption was in April, but in March there was a fissure eruption which was a precursor to the much larger eruption."

Oh well... Let's see.

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

Notice they used the word 'explode' in the last sentence of that article. I wonder how likely a *major* explosion really is. Based on my limited knowledge of these kinds of volcanos, I would say 'low'. Being a rift zone, you would expect hot lava, which flows more easily, and will melt through whatever is holding it back before pressure gets too high. The place where you get the really damaging explosions, with pyroclastic flows, seems to be th subduction zone volcanoes. Their heat apparently come from friction between the overlying and subducting plate. The heat levels aren't quite as high, so you get thick, sticky lava that can't melt enough things above it to release pressure. So when it releases pressure-- kxangangang!

[Vawmataw]

Today, the magnitude of the largest earthquake is 5.0 and yesterday it was 5.4.

And today it's 5.4 (4.7 km NE of Bárðarbunga) and yesterday it was 5.2.

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

I see the tension on Iceland is causing some moderate earthquakes at the Norwegian volcanic island Jan Mayen. Just hope this volcano also will not erupt. The volcano on Jan Mayen is called Beerenberg and it is the world's northernmost subaerial active volcano. The last volcanic eruption from Beerenberg was in 1985.
http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=397686

[Vawmataw]

There was this fissure eruption. I checked this morning the earthquakes in this region for today and none of them has a magnitude above 4. O.o