About the volcano
Eyjafjallajökull is a glacier-covered stratovolcano in southern Iceland. Its eruption began in March 2010 with a quiet lava outpouring on the Fimmvörðuháls pass, but in mid-April it moved under the summit ice. Magma meeting meltwater shattered into fine, sharp ash that the wind carried over Europe. For almost a week most flights over the continent were grounded – around 100,000 flights were cancelled and millions of travellers were stranded. The eruption was not large (VEI 4), but it showed how vulnerable aviation is to volcanic ash.
Eruption history
VEI – Volcanic Explosivity Index: 0 = lava outpouring, 4 = like Eyjafjallajökull 2010, 6 = like Pinatubo 1991, 7 = like Tambora 1815. The scale is logarithmic – each step is about 10 times more material.
| Start | End | VEI | Vent and dating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 March 2010 | 23 June 2010 | 4 | ENE flank (Fimmvörduháls) and summit · Observations: Reported |
| 19 December 1821 | 1 January 1823 | 2 | Observations: Reported |
| 1612 | — | 2 | Observations: Reported |
| c. 920 | — | 3 | NW flank (Skerin ridge) · Correlation: Tephrochronology |
| c. 550 | — | ? | Correlation: Tephrochronology |
Data: Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institution (#372020) · Wikipedia (pl) · Wikipedia (en)