Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Risk On: Iceland Volcano Edition

Update Feb. 8, 2011: "Iceland Volcano Bárdarbunga 'set to erupt' (and it's bigger than Eyjafjallajökull)".
Original post:
From Conference and Incentive Travel:

Another Icelandic ash cloud possible in the next few days
The C&I industry is on alert after the Icelandic Meteorological Institute (IMI) confirmed that a volcano in the country could erupt before the end of the week.
There are fears that another volcanic eruption could cause problems for Icelandic travel, however, a repeat of the biggest air shutdown since World War II, which occured after the Icelandic volcanic eruption in May this year, is unlikely due to the potential debris.

The warning comes after Gigja, a lake on the Vatnajoekull glacier in eastern Iceland, suffered rapidly melting glaciers, which are likely to set off an eruption in the crater of the Grimsvoetn volcano.
IMI meteorologist Bergthora Thorbjar Nardohir told C&IT: "It is likely that an eruption will occur but it is too soon to speculate on the extent of the damage it could cause, or whether it will affect flights in the region. It may not even happen at all."

Over the past 48 hours, the Meteorological Institute has registered strong seismic activity in the area, and three moderate earth quakes ranging from 2.7 to 4.0 on the Richter scale.
On September 24 we posted "Isn't it About Time for Another Iceland Volcano? (Bárðarbunga dude)".
Bárðarbunga is located on the northwest edge of the Vatnajökull glacier.

The current action:


Map of Icelandic Volcanoes

AFP has more details.