At 13.4 square kilometres (5.2 sq mi), it is the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, and the largest and most populated island off the Icelandic coast. That way it was hoped to stop the lava from moving towards the harbor and filling more and more of its entrance.

There is no Emissions History data available for Vestmannaeyjar. Det findes historier om folk, som overlevede invasionen. The remains of a burned house are visible in the foreground. A light wind sprang up, blowing from the W which is quite unusual at that time of the year, but it carried the incandescent pyroclastics ejected from the fissure away from the town. Heimaey Today. Some of the fish factories that had escaped destruction from the March lava flow resumed production. Lava has covered at least 80 houses in the eastern part of the town, including 23 on the night of 22-23 March, but no more since then. In mid-April, the major concern was the presence of toxic CO gas in the town which claimed the only fatality related to this eruption. Acta Nat Islandica, 26: 1-103. J. Volcanol. Januar 1973.

About 40 lava fountains shot up into the sky, and soon after the beginning of the eruption, lava began to flow out, away from the town thanks to the favorable morphological situation.

The following cables were received . Until mid-January 1973, Heimaey was considered volcanically inactive both by volcanologists and its residents. There have been few instances where a volcanic emergency situation was handled so smoothly, but much of this was due a number of factors which, had they varied just a little bit, might have resulted in a tragedy.

One month after the beginning of the eruption, the hope of a salvation of the town began to fade.

This collapse was probably triggered by the pressure exerted on the crater wall by a lava lake rising within the crater. Houses that were not burned by the impact of incandescent bombs collapsed under the weight of tephra which in the easternmost part of the town exceeded 2 m in thickness. Heimaey ist die Hauptstadt der Vestmannaeyjar in Island Mit guten 4000 Einwohnern ist Heimaey die größte der Inseln und durch seine geographische Lage wohl auch die Interessanteste. . In mid-April, the major concern was the presence of toxic CO gas in the town which claimed the only fatality related to this eruption.
The archipelago lies in the southernmost part of the Eastern Volcanic Zone of Iceland (also called Main Volcanic Zone) that runs roughly NE-SW across Iceland. Tectonics.


In the course of a few days, hundreds of houses and several large fish factories were crushed and buried. We welcome users to tell us if they see incorrect information or other problems with the maps; please use the Contact GVP link at the bottom of the page to send us email.

Initial submarine eruptions rapidly produced a new island that became permanent after lava effusion began in 1964. Later, the situation deteriorated. Only one man died in the eruption. Thus, a coincidence of several factors helped that the eruption did not immediately assume disastrous proportions. Volcanic eruption in Heimaey 1973.

Have a little patience! These events were much shallower and some of the tremors were felt on Heimaey. Concordant with propagating rift models, magmas erupted in the Vestmannaeyjar are slightly more alkalic than typical Mid Ocean Ridge Basalts (MORB), ranging from hawaiites to mugearites in composition. The distance of Heimaey from the nearest spot on the "mainland" is about 10 km. The eruption was not a particularly large eruptive event for Iceland standards. Den første person, der ifølge sagaen byggede en gård på øen, var kendt som Herjólfur Bárðarson. The eruption began a few minutes before 0155 on 23 January from a 1.6 km long, NNE-SSW striking fissure that opened on the NE side of the island, running from the N rim of the Saefjall explosion crater, across the E flank of Helgafell, to the NE tip of the Helgafell lava field. Later, the Icelandic commission for geographic names decided to call the new volcanic feature "Eldfell", Fire Mountain. (These were pillars associated with the chief's chair.

The lava is now thin-flowing and the latest temperature was 1,090°C, as measured by the physicist, Dr. Sigurdsson, Icelandic Meteorological Office; Adelsteinn Sigurdsson, Icelandic Marine Research Institute. Mattsson H, Hoskuldsson A, 2003. The lava is somewhat more thin-flowing than before. Several other ephemeral islands around Surtsey that were not armored by lava are now eroded beneath the sea. [7], Auf den Inseln gibt es zahlreiche kleinere Berge; so kann man z.

. The fissure could as well have opened right across the town. Later postglacial activity occured at the Stórhöfdi and Saefjall eruptive centers in the southern half of Heimaey. Auf ihr befindet sich die gleichnamige Stadt mit 4301 Einwohnern (Stand: 1. By that time, more than 400 buildings had been buried and collapsed under the weight of tephra, burned by bombs or crushed by lava. The islands were formed mostly during the late Pleistocene (the eruptions then being subglacial) and the Holocene. The new volcanic cone, Eldfell, a horseshoe-shaped tephra wall open towards the N, was 215 m high. Some of the fish factories that had escaped destruction from the March lava flow resumed production. Meanwhile, lava continuously moved towards the harbor entrance, threatening to close it.

Lava continues to pour into the harbor and water temperatures have reached 111°F.