Eyjafjallajokull - E15

• location


  - south of iceland

  - in a remote area, closest city is Reykjavik which is a 2 hour car journey away

  - in the Eyjafjöll mountains
• when

  - 16th April 2010

  - not 100% accurate however, e15 not predicted to erupt in our lifetime again, will take hundreds of years
• What is the highest point of the volcano?

  1666m
• What is the area of the volcano?

  66km2
• What is the diameter of the crater?

  3.4km
• What is the oldest active volcano in Iceland?


  e15
• On what tectonic boundary is the volcano formed?

  Mid Atlantic plate boundary
• What type of volcano is it?

  Composite volcano
• What are the characteristics of its eruptions?

  Immense height, huge eruptions that do not happen frequently
• What natural disaster can occur due to the glacial cover?

  Mudflow and lahars
• primary effects


  - released enormous amounts of ash into atmosphere, ash cloud reached altitudes of 9km and drifted across large parts of Europe, affecting air travel

  - ash and tephra falling onto surrounding areas, including farmland and towns

  -8 hospitals collapsed

  - 100000 houses destroyed and 200000 damaged

  - 1.3 million left homeless

  - volcano released an estimated 4.5 million tonnes of CO2 by 19th April 2010
• secondary effects


  - disruption to air travel, 100000 flights cancelled, estimated that airlines lost £130 million per day that airspace was closed

  - long term effects on soil and water quality

  - respiratory issues

  - Kenya affected, 5000 farmers laid off after flowers and vegetables rotted at airports

  - damage to roads and infrastructure leading to costly damage
• immediate responses


  - 800 evacuated

  - Icelandic Red Cross set up 3 shelter points for 600 people evacuated from danger zones

  - state of alert issued 2 weeks before due to frequent earthquakes which indicates volcanic activity

  - communities in south well prepared

  - emergency services, search and rescue

  - airspace closures, European airspace closed for several days
• long term responses


  - monitoring and research, improved monitoring and research into ash cloud movement

  - economic support, financial assistance for affected farmers and businesses

  - regulations, improved for air travel during volcanic events

  - EU developed integrated structure for air traffic management, nine functional airspace blocks (FABs) will replace existing 27 areas, in future, areas of air space will be closed reducing risk of all European airspace being closed