Volcano Blog by Tom Pering
  • Blog
  • UV Cameras
  • Publications
  • Slug Calculator
  • About Me

Is Hekla waking from a slumber?

26/3/2013

 
Picture
The location of Hekla
The Icelandic Meteorological Office has raised its aviation code for Hekla from green to yellow. Why have they done this? Well according to this news article, there has been an increase in seismicity, which is unusual for Hekla, although there has been no marked changes in other eruption precursors such as inflation and they further state that there is no eruption imminent. Recent earthquakes can be viewed here. If you are interested in the decision making process of the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) and how they communicate with the public, I highly recommend skimming (or reading thoroughly!) this presentation which is available on their website. From this (if I understand it correctly) I can determine that the alert level has been raised because of an uncertainty surrounding the change in activity, which doesn't necessarily mean that an eruption will occur at all! However, what does history tell us about eruptions at Hekla? The IMO has a list of volcanic eruptions since 1900 on their website and you can see that Hekla features prominently with eruptions most recently in 2000 and 1991, whilst the Global Volcanism Program also shows regular activity . 

Picture
Photo of Hekla by Bill Rose (1980)
If Hekla were to erupt, we can expect the typical activity which has been seen in the past, typified by the photos on the GVP website, a mixture of explosive activity and lava flows. One of the major dangers from an eruption of Hekla is the emission of Fluorine, which the magmas from Hekla seem to contain more of. Inhalation of Fluorine can cause Skeletal Fluorosis (yes I did link wikipedia) and has caused significant fatalities of humans and livestock in the past from eruptions such as the Lakagigar fissure eruption in 1783.  

You can view webcams of Hekla at these two sites: one is a closer view, and the other is at a distance but arguably of better quality. This activity change could show the very early signs of a future eruption or it could also be an anomaly, it is certainly too early to tell at this stage.


Comments are closed.
    Volcano Blog Logo

    RSS Feed

    Share this page

    Archives

    August 2022
    May 2022
    January 2021
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011

An informative blog for anyone interested about all things volcano related!
  • Blog
  • UV Cameras
  • Publications
  • Slug Calculator
  • About Me