The resulting ash cloud led to the largest closure of European airspace since World War II. The financial losses as a result of the eruption are estimated at approximately 1.5 to 2.5 billion euros.
However, the conditions of the eruption of the Fagradalsfjall volcano are different, so such extensive consequences are not expected. Professor Michelle Paulato of Imperial College London points out that Eyjafjadlajegidl is a so-called shield volcano with a glacier on top. The flying ash cloud was created after magma collided with ice, an outcome not expected in the case of the eruption of Fagradalsfjall.
An eruption is expected in the next few days
The Icelandic Meteorological Agency estimates that the magma is currently 800 meters from the surface of the earth, so the risk of an eruption is high and could happen within the next few days.
On the night of November 12, the earthquakes were weaker, but cracks about a meter deep formed in the roads, indicating that the magma could be even closer to the surface and erupt soon.
Icelandic geologist Yevgenia Ilyinskaya told the broadcasting company that the forecasts for November 10 and 11 indicated a similar outcome to that of 1783, when a volcanic eruption in Iceland created an eight-month flood of lava and thick sulfur clouds that were over Northern Europe for five months.
She points out that the latest forecasts show that such an outcome is not expected and that the eruption will be much smaller than previously estimated.
Volcanic activity has been recorded very often in Iceland because it is located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The Earth’s crust is divided into different plates, and in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the Eurasian and North American plates are moving apart by a few centimeters per year. This allows magma to rise to the surface and erupt as lava or ash.
2023-11-14 22:04:01
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