Get a short URL
The last volcanic eruption in question was in 2011, which closed Reykjavik’s Keflavik airport and caused the cancellation of about 900 flights to Europe.
Iceland’s most active volcano, Grimsvotten, may be on the verge of another eruption, with a large increase in seismic activity being reported by seismologists at the Icelandic Meteorological Office.
On October 1, authorities increased the threat level of the Aviation Color Code related to volcanic activity from green to green (‘volcanoes are in normal, non-explosive state’) to yellow (‘volcanoes are experiencing signs of unrest above known background levels’).
Seismologists insisted that the elevated threat level was not necessarily an indication that an eruption was imminent, but noted that “multiple datasets show that the Grimsvriton volcano has reached the level of comparable unrest seen before historic historic eruptions.” Ground deformation levels in the area are already said to be higher than observed before the 2011 eruption.
Nine years after the last eruption of Grimswotten, the volcano typically peaks every five to ten years and has experienced at least 65 eruptions in the last eight hundred years.
The potential explosion is bad news for commercial airlines, which are already suffering from damage caused by coronavirus-related restrictions. Iceland’s volcanoes, strategically located between Europe and North America, are notorious for their ability to make transatlantic travel difficult.
In addition to the 2011 explosion of Grimsov ot tons, which sent toxic and potentially lethal soot and ash into the atmosphere 20 km away. As many as 100,000 flights were canceled and about 8 million passengers were stranded in the 2010 eruption of the second Icelandic volcano, Ajafjalaj ok Kul.
. Photo: Benjamin Pothier
Grimsovton volcano in the middle of Iceland
Volcanic ash can be extremely dangerous for an aircraft, not only because they can obscure the pilot’s vision around them, but also because of their ability to damage or destroy aircraft by small room particles containing ash.
