Live footage: Magma running down from the overflowing crater
Screenshot from a webcam where the lava is seen running down from an overflowing crater quite forcefully. mbl.is/Screenshot
“It started happening like 20 minutes over three, and then the surface of the magma in the crater began to rise,” Elísabet Pálmadóttir, a natural hazard specialist at the Icelandic Met Office, tells us, as she looks out into the lava that now flows down the crater’s rim in the volcanic eruption at the Sundhnúkagígar crater row.
“Then it just started flooding, but it didn’t break the crater itself,” she says, adding that it’s obvious that lava flow has increased.
A slight increase in seismic activity
When asked, she doesn’t say exactly what caused the increased lava flow but two things are most likely to be considered.
It is possible that magma was sneaking under the lava and that the channels were clogged. More magma is coming up to the surface.
“We are seeing a little bit of an increase in unrest, but it’s a little too early to say.”
“But this is a very false story,” says Elísabet, adding that the increased lava flow is not a concern at this time. It is quite clear, however, that the eruption is not coming to an end.
Below you can see the eruption in direct stream:
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