The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull are a series of major volcanic events occurring at Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland. Seismic activity started at the end of 2009, and led to a volcanic eruption on 20 March 2010, placing its Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) at 1[1]. A later eruption from 14 April 2010 led to widespread disruption of air travel in Europe from 15 April, affecting the travel plans of millions of passengers. This caused a knock on effect to many events around the world as people were unable to attend events.
The second eruption on April 17, 2010.
Eyjafjallajökull (pronounced [ˈɛɪjaˌfjatlaˌjœkʏtl̥], 
listen (help·info)) is one of the smaller glaciers of Iceland. It is situated to the north of Skógar and to the west of the larger glacier Mýrdalsjökull.
listen (help·info)) is one of the smaller glaciers of Iceland. It is situated to the north of Skógar and to the west of the larger glacier Mýrdalsjökull.The icecap of the glacier covers a volcano 1,666 metres (5,466 ft) in height that has erupted relatively frequently since the Ice Age. There have been three previous major eruptions in historic times: in 920, 1612 and from 1821 to 1823. Previous eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull have been followed by eruptions at its larger neighbour, Katla[2].
First eruption
At the end of December 2009, seismic activity began around the Eyjafjallajökull volcano area, with thousands of small earthquakes (mostly of magnitude 1–2 Mw), 7–10 kilometres beneath the volcano.[3] By 26 February 2010 the Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment used by the Meteorological Institute of Iceland at Þorvaldseyri farm in the Eyjafjöll area (around 15 kilometres southeast of the location of the recent eruption[4]) had shown 3 centimetres displacement of the local crust in a southward direction, of which a 1 centimetre displacement had taken place within four days. This unusual seismic activity along with the rapid movement of the Earth's crust in the area gave geophysicists evidence that magma was flowing from underneath the crust into the magma chamber of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano and that pressure stemming from the process caused the (in geophysical terms) huge crustal displacement at Þorvaldseyri farm.[5] The seismic activity continued to increase and, from 3 to 5 March, close to 3,000 earthquakes were measured at the epicentre in the volcano. Most were too small (magnitude 2) to be read as presaging an eruption, but some could be detected in nearby towns.[6] The eruption is thought to have begun on 20 March 2010, some time between 10:30 pm and 11:30 pm local time (UTC), a few kilometres east of the glacier in the northern slopes of Fimmvörðuháls mountain pass.[7][8]
"Volcano tourism" quickly sprang up in the wake of the eruption, with tour companies offering trips to see the volcano.[9] The Icelandic Telecommunications company Mila[10] has installed 3 webcams giving views of the eruption from Valahnúkur, Hvolsvöllur and Þórólfsfell[11].
Second eruption
On 14 April 2010 Eyjafjallajökull resumed erupting after a brief pause, this time in the centre of the glacier, causing meltwater floods to rush down the nearby rivers in two flows on either side of the volcano, and requiring 800 people to be evacuated. The road along the Markarfljót river had been washed away in several places. [35]
Unlike the earlier eruption, the second eruption occurred beneath glacial ice. Cold water from melted ice chills the lava quickly and fragments it into glass, creating small glass particles that get carried into the eruption plume. This, together with the magnitude of the eruption, estimated to be ten to twenty times larger than the March 20th one on Fimmvörðuháls, created a glass-rich plume in the upper atmosphere, which is very hazardous to aircraft[36].
As of 17 April 2010[update] the eruption was continuing, but less explosively; the plume was rising to 5 kilometres (3 mi) rather than 13 kilometres (8 mi) as before, not high enough to travel across Europe[37] The forecast for 18 April at 06:00 showed a significant plume continuing over northern Europe.[38].
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