Fimmvörðuhálsi, Iceland Webcam

Category: Volcano

Eyjafjallajökull is one of the smaller glaciers of Iceland. It is situated to the north of Skógar and to the west of the larger glacier Mýrdalsjökull.

The name Eyjafjöll usually describes an area of small mountains which form the base of the volcano. This area was once part of the island’s Atlantic coastline. As the sea retreated some 5 km, the former coastline has left behind sheer cliffs with a multitude of beautiful waterfalls, like Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss. In strong winds, the water of the smaller falls can even be blown up the mountain.

The icecap of the glacier covers a 700.000 year old volcano (1,666 m in height) which has erupted infrequently since the Ice Age. There were only 3 eruptions during the last 1100 years since the settlement of Iceland. The latest eruption began in March 2010, and the second most recent eruption was from 1821 to 1823, causing some smaller glacier runs. Previous eruptions were in 1612 and 920.

Around Christmas 2009, seismic activity began around the Eyjafjallajökull volcano area, with thousands of small earthquakes (mostly magnitude 1–2 on the Richter scale) 7–10 kilometres beneath the volcano.