From MBL (Iceland):
Mjög öflug gosstöð
Mökkurinn sést víða af Suðuarlandi. mynd/Halldóra K. Unnarsdóttir(easy for you to say)
„Það er alltaf full ástæða til að athuga alla möguleika þegar Grímsvötn gjósa, því þau eru mjög öflug eldstöð þó síðustu gos hafi verið mjög meinlaus,“ segir Páll Einarsson jarðeðlisfræðingur við Jarðvísindastofnun Háskóla Íslands.
Að sögn Páls hefur gosið verið lengi í pípunum. „Það hefur verið jafn og þéttur undirbúningur frá síðasta gosi árið 2004, því eftir að því lauk fóru Grímsvötnin strax að búa sig undir næsta gos.“ Þrýstingurinn í eldstöðinni hafi farið fram úr því sem hann var við gosið 2004 strax síðasta haust og kom þá hlaup úr vötnunum. Hófust þá vangaveltur um að gos myndi hefjast hvað úr hverju....
Here's the pronunciation:
ZeroHedge:
Erapture! Iceland Grimsvotn Volcano Has Erupted, White Plume Ejected 18,000 Feet Into Air, Seismic Readings Across Iceland Off The Charts
...
...
From the Eruptions blog:
Subglacial eruption starting at Icelad's Grímsvötn
Well, it looks like Iceland is going to be in the news again this summer. Jon Frimann and others noted a sharp increase in seismicity under the Vatnajökull icecap at Grímsvötn today and MBL.is has confirmed that if an eruption hasn't already begun under the icecap, then one is likely to be starting soon (in Icelandic, use Google Translate at your risk) according to geologist Louw Sveinbjörnsson.I'm a bit sad that it wasn't the big one Katla, or Bárðarbunga, dude not to be confused with Berlusconi's Bunga-bunga but lending itself to a lot more wordplay than Eyjafjallajökull ever did.
UPDATE: There is confirmation of an ash and steam plume possibly reaching 1.8 km / ~6,000 feet above the volcano (see images below), but again, the details are scant. The eruption itself appears to be from the Grímsfjall Crater. There is very little news that I can find in English for this event - but hopefully Jon and any one else in Iceland can keep us appraised with what is going on in Iceland. The danger now will be from jokulklaups within the next 10-12 hours draining to the south or ash disrupting air travel in and around Iceland.
UPDATE 4:35 PM (Eastern): Icelandic officials and volcanologists will head out tomorrow morning (Icelandic) to overfly to inspect the area. However, a group near the volcano (Icelandic) will try to collect some samples of the ash. Police have also monitoring roads that could be hit by jokulhlaups. Also, currently the plume shows up impressively on satellite infrared images of Iceland.
MSNBC and the AP now has news on the eruption - and MSNBC claims the plume has hit 5.4 km / 18,000 feet in height. Impressive to say the least....MORE
