Locals flee as Iceland volcano erupts
Iceland’s first volcanic eruption in six years forced 600 people to
flee their homes on Sunday and brought a halt to all flights into and
out of the Nordic island nation.
Smoke could be seen rising from behind Eyjafjallajoekull glacier and
volcanic ash filled the sky after the eruption, foretold by a week of
localized earthquakes, began after midnight on Saturday.
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Lava spews out of a mountain on March 21, 2010 in Hvolsvöllur in
the region of the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland. The small
volcano eruption that forced more than 600 people to flee their
homes in Iceland over the weekend could conceivably set off a
larger volcano. AFP |
No casualties were reported in the remotely populated area, about 125
kilometres east of Iceland’s capital Reykjavik.
But the risk of floods posed by melting glacial ice prompted the
authorities to declare a state of emergency and to immediately evacuate
the area. It was the first volcanic eruption in Iceland since 2004, and
the first in the vicinty of Eyjafjallajoekull, in the south of the
island, since 1823.
“We did not have time to be afraid and everyone was so calm and
stoical,” farmer Dorhildur Bjarnadottir, 51, told Agence France-Presse (AFP)
in Hvolsvoellur, a small town of 800 near the glacier where some of the
evacuees took refuge.
“The worst part in all of this is to leave our animals behind at
home,” her husband added. Three Icelandic airports, including the main
international airport in Reykjavik, were closed, and all air traffic to
and from Iceland had been suspended by mid-day on Sunday. “Around 600
people have been evacuated and the area is still closed,” local police
chief Kjartan Thorkelsson told AFP.
“Because the eruption is still going strong, we will continue to keep
the highest level of security.”
“All roads are closed and continue to be closed, but those who need
to drive between places will be registered and allowed to do so. We
encourage people who have been evacuated to remain calm,” he added.
Significant floods were avoided because the fissure eruption occurred
between two large glaciers, Eyjafjallajoekull and Myrdalsjoekull, a
professor of geophysics and civil protection advisor Magnus Tumi
Gudmundsson said. “We are extremely lucky that the eruption did not
occure underneath the glacier, so therefore a gigantic glacier flood did
not occur,” Gudmundsson said.
With about 15 magma exits at the fissure, he said, the volcano “is
not a big eruption” by Icelandic standards.
AFP, National Post |
