Right.. So as you may or may not know or realize is that Iceland is an island in the middle of the north Antlantic ocean and is volcanically and geologically active.
About a month ago a volcano erupted at Fimmvörðuháls, a popular hiking path between two glaciers. That volcano was rather small but quite beautiful. As the images below display:
Damage was none except for the fact that a new mountain now sits on top of that popular hiking path. Two casualities were reported before the end of the volcano when a group of two women and a man got lost in their jeep in the area after exploring the volcano. They left their jeep seperatly and later on, two were found dead out of exhaustion or cold. The other woman was found cold and tired but has recovered physically. This Volcano stopped two days ago, just in time before I could go there with my coworkers and snap some photos. But since two days ago all has been quiet..
..until tonight
Those of you who have heard about Katla, shouldn't panic.
Katla hasn't errupted yet, but Eyjafjallajökull has.
Eyjafjallajökull is a glacier (jökull = glacier) so when a volcano erupts under a glacier, floodings ensue and surely that's what's happening. As I type this I'm looking at the first images of the flooding through Markárfljót, the river that runs from the glacier's north side and out to sea, and reports alert that the flooding might cover nearby farms that have already been evacuated throughout the night.
The water has now reached the Ring Road that goes 1,339 km's around the island. The road besides the bridge over Markárfljót has be ruptured by the government to allow the river to flow besides the bridge as well, in order to reduce the pressure that sits on the bridge ( it's easier to repair the road than rebuild the bridge ) and allready the water is forcing it's way through there with noises. All transportations between South East Iceland and South West Iceland has to go the extra 1000 km's up north.
This volcano is reported to be 10-20 times larger than the volcano at fimmvörðuháls and already the airspace over eastern Iceland has been closed, with possibilities of expanding said no-fly zone over to Norway or as far as Russia, according to the news. No casualities have been reported and I don't really expect them.
Rupturing the road so the flooding can come through..
A cloud of steam from the volcano reaches up to 15000 ft's
So, What of Katla?
Well to begin with, if Katla erupts, you'll know about it..
..Unless you live in a cave, and even then you'd eventually find out!
Katla erupts about ever 60-80 years.. Last time it erupted was 1918 so it's well overdue. It's believed that traces from past Katla eruptions can be found in many locations such as Norway and Scotland, and I've heard geophysicists say that if Katla erupts with all it's power and might, the overall temperature of the earth could drop by 1-2 °C though I believe that's just scary talk..
..still makes one wonder.
So, what news of it?
It might errupt the next couple of months or next couple of years. Volcano in Eyjafjallajökull is often considered a trigger to a Katla eruption.
I'll update this thread with new information when things start to clear up, and post better pictures when we have them
.. god, I love this island!
