Second phase of Eyjafjallajökull Eruption

After a brief hiatus during which the first two fissuers at Fimmvörðuháls closed, the main caldera at Eyjafjallajökull let rip early in the morning of April 14th.



ash plume through the clouds - from visir.is - click to embiggen

There was a jökulhlaup - wish I could have been there with Vatnamælingar on my old route... - actually there were 2 of them, so far. Only about 1/4-1/3 of the ice cap has melted, it is about 1/4 km thick and several km across.
There are, apparently, 5 active vents inside a 1-2 km caldera, with ash rising to 5-10 km.
Heavy ashfall reported across the east, with ash reaching north-west Norway so far.

I had read that the Icelandic Aviation Authority had contingency plans to divert and close air traffic lanes across the North Atlantic, revised on an hourly basis - they have 300 flight on average in the zone at any given time.
The contingency plans are now active, with some lanes closed and flights diverted around.

i-372ce2b7d7d5648dda4dfcdb7b19d339-FRAME_OIS_RGB-ash-iceland_1004150400.jpg

EUMETSAT Ashfall images
looks like Aberdeen will get some soon...

Fortunately, some lone geologist on nightwatch made the call, and evacuations were made, including those of intrepid reporters heading in and wondering tourists not answering their cell phones.

Eruption is now not so much a tourist eruption, but on the small size of medium, so far.

It may not be done yet.

Scibling Eruptions is on it, as before

Lots of cool photos coming out, and webcams are running, though the weather was poor yesterday.

More like this

Flash flood alert at Markárfljót and Fljótshlíð in Iceland. The real flood is finally here... Almannavarnir (Civil Defence Authority) in Iceland has issued a general urgent evacuation alert for Fljótshlíð - a scenic farming area southwest of Eyjafjallajökull due to major flooding. Gígsjöull…
here we go again... this is the map of earthquakes in the last 24 hours in Iceland, kinda lit up there - nice illustration of the mid-atlantic ridge coming up from the south and south-west and bisecting the island so that little cluster under Vatnajökull, that is Grímsvötn Grímsvötn is a sub-…
The eruptive plume from Eyjafjallajökull taken Holsvelli webcam. Image courtesy of Mattias Larsson. Sorry to disappoint everyone visiting to blog while they sit at any number of airports around the world, but the eruption at Eyjafjallajökull appears to still be going strong. The Icelandic Met…
Bárðarbunga is arguably the scariest of the 30 or so active volcanoes in Iceland. Extreme volcanoes don't always have extreme eruptions, but they are scary because they have the capability for extreme events, uniquely so. Bárðarbunga - under the ice cap at the top left - from Google maps It is…

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them under control. I trust you are not in too much distress." -- Captain of BA Flight 9.

It didn't take long for UK airspace to close.

Nice work, all of my students are sending messages saying they are stuck abroad and can't fly home in time for Monday morning. How they can afford foreign holidays is another matter...