Eruption of Most Vicious Volcano Katla Likely [Update]

Iceland prepares for second, more devastating volcanic eruption

(TimesOnline) – However, the danger is that the small volcano is just the beginning and that it will trigger the far more powerful volcano of Katla, which nestles beneath Myrdalsjökull glacier.

“That has to be on the table at the moment,” Dave McGarvie, senior lecturer at the Volcano Dynamics Group of the Open University, said. “And it is a much nastier piece of work.”

Icelanders agree. “This could trigger Katla, which is a vicious volcano that could cause both local and global damage,” Pall Einarsson, from the University of Iceland, said.

Tremors around Eyjafjallajokull were first recorded in early March, but precise prediction of volcanic eruption is difficult, even with the high-tech equipment available to Icelandic geologists.

Dramatic footage of ash and lightning above Iceland volcano

Now that it has happened the only basis for prediction is history — and that does not look good.

“Eyjafjallajokull has blown three times in the past thousand years,” Dr McGarvie told The Times, “in 920AD, in 1612 and between 1821 and 1823. Each time it set off Katla.” The likelihood of Katla blowing could become clear “in a few weeks or a few months”, he said.

Katla, most powerful volcano on Iceland

« click for video lava flow
Aerial video of the new eruption crater at Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland

● Snapshot of trans-atlantic flights and ash clouds

Iceland President Olafur Grimsson: Eruption is only ‘small rehearsal’

(BBC News) – The eruption of the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano in Iceland, and the travel chaos it has called, is only a “small rehearsal”, according to Iceland’s President Olafur Grimsson.

“The larger Katla volcano, right next to it, usually erupts every century, and the last eruption was in 1918. We have prepared our rescue services for such an event. It’s high time for European governments and airline authorities all over Europe and the world to start planning for the eventual Katla eruption.”