Volcano Explodes After 6,000 Years Of Silence…All Caught On Film
on Apr 22, 2021
Most of us will never see a volcano erupt in real life, and it can be tough to fathom just how intense these natural phenomenons can be. Bjorn Seinbekk caught some awesome drone footage of Fagradalsfjall, a volcano in southwest Iceland, showing off its insane strength.
One of our planet's newest volcanoes!
This is the view from a webcam that has been set up on Fagradalsfjall by Geldingadalur, Iceland, where an eruption started Friday.
At the moment, activity is centred at a small spatter cone, with effusive lava and a localised gas plume. pic.twitter.com/ywHqhm64Ex
— Paul Byrne (@ThePlanetaryGuy) March 20, 2021
Fagradalsfjall is more than 1,200 feet tall (for the sake of comparison, the Eiffel tower is just under 1,100 feet tall). After watching the footage, it’s hard to imagine that anyone could call this eruption small, but Icelandic Meteorological Office said exactly that. The eruption was predictable and followed an increase in tectonic plate activity.
Fagradalsfjall mountain, a dormant vulcano for the last 6000 years, has erupted last night in Iceland.
Earth is breathtaking pic.twitter.com/HosodNaZnv— ilona 🌊 (@ilona_jazz) March 20, 2021
This was the first time in 6,000 years that Fagradalsfjall erupted and the peninsula it is located on has not seen volcanic activity in nearly 1,000 years.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said that the gasses leaving the volcano aren’t likely to cause problems for people who live nearby (the volcano is about 19 miles away from Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital).
More amazing photos from the Geldingadalir eruption that started 20:45 GMT, just east of Fagradalsfjall on Reykjanes peninsula. While fairly close to Keflavík and Grindavík, it +10 km from nearest houses. Trapped in a valley, this puny eruption is considered "mostly harmless". pic.twitter.com/4xijNCekYl
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 20, 2021
While the eruption was slow and expected, it managed to cover a square kilometer (a little more than half a mile) in four hours.
Of course, it’s dangerous to get too close to an active volcano, but many nearby residents are enjoying the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Fagradalsfjall in all her glory.
See some of this incredible footage below.
