Not so long ago we were all reminded of just how restless the earth is and how earth's inhabitants can be impacted. The 2010 eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano shut down much of Europe's airspace traffic for six days, affecting more than 10 million people. Now we are anticipating a possible eruption of another Iceland volcano,"Bardarbunga".
Bardarbunga eruption threat is high
Scientists are not sure that an eruption is imminent, though they are concerned enough to raise the threat level to aviation to "orange". On a scale of 1 to 5, "orange" puts Bardarbunga at a 4. As of Wednesday morning the volcano has witnessed over 2,000 earthquakes described as a "swarm" by volcanologists and a sign that we should take notice. The depth of the earthquakes are at 5-10 km, a depth a which movement of magma and an associated eruption appears likely. The Icelandic Met Office describes the activity as "intense earthquake swarms".
Useful Bardarbunga Volcano links
- The Icelandic Met Office reports eruptions on a map here. The Site also lists the earthquakes in a table here.
- 3D activity under the volcano here.
- The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service has provided a live webcam of the Bardarbunga volcano here. The Site shows still images updated every few minutes.
- Volcanologist Dave McGarvie discusses eruption scenarios here
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