Live from Iceland: Streaming Webcam of a Volcanic Eruption!
The eruption is still going, albeit potentially with a little less vigor than before – and you can watch it now at Porolfsfell and Fimmvorouhals. Haraldur Sigurdsson says that the eruption may have peaked (Icelandic) and is ~25% less vigorous than it was a few days ago, but this could change without notice. A fairly significant, long, low scoria cone has formed and lava flows from the fissure have spilled down the brown slopes near the vent – you can see the steam on the webcam images of the lava coming down towards the webcam location.
This eruption has become a big time tourist draw in Iceland (for good reason), and so far it has been quiescent enough to allow for the tourists to see the eruption in safety. Lots of people have been posting some incredible images of the eruption – note the size of the cars in the background of the some of the images to get a sense of scale.
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.
More live webcams from Iceland : Here