Video: Smoking from a crack that splits Mt Hagafell
Photo/ Jón Steinar Sæmundsson
“The whole of Mt Hagafell is just a cracked,” Jón Steinar Sæmundsson told mbl.is.
Sæmundson, who lives in Grindavík and works as a factory manager at Vísir hf., has been following the fissure in Mt Hagafell closely and took some amazing aerial pictures on yesterday with his drone.
Before the eruption on May 29, the fissure was small on the surface but has expanded since then. Photo/ Jón Steinar Sæmundsson
Same fissure where the last eruption came from
He said he couldn't fully determine whether the fissure is the same as the one that runs through town, known by locals as Stampholtsgjá fissure.
“This is the same fissure that erupted in the spring and went through the defense wall. Whether this is connected to the Stampholtsgjá fissure, I won’t be able to say,” he explains.
“I have taken a lot of pictures of these eruptions and have been walking and driving around the area, so I know this well.”
Sæmundsson took the picture yesterday, Sunday July 21. Photo/Jón Steinar Sæmundsson
In line with the fissure that spewed the magma that went over the houses
Sæmundsson says that the fissure has opened up considerably more recently.
“Yes, it has opened up much more than before. It was there before the eruption on May 29, but it expanded even more after the lava flowed over it.”
He says that the fissure in Mt Hagafell is in direct line with the last crater that erupted, but also with the fissure that opened and took the houses on January 14, and finally, in the same way, with the fissure that formed in the defense wall after the eruption on May 29.
The fissure has split into two sections, which before the eruption that began on May 29 could be easily driven over. Photo/Jón Steinar Sæmundsson
Could drive over it before
Before the eruption on May 29, this was just a small fissure.
“Before the eruption started, it was just a small crack. You could have stuffed a finger in it and driven over it on a four-wheeler without problems. After May 29 the crack became much larger,” he explains, adding that the changes in the area are unbelievable.
The crater that was formed during the last eruption on May 29 can be seen clearly in the back of the picture, just right at the center. Photo/ Jón Steinar Sæmundsson
Sæmundsson has also put together a video clip he took with his drone of the fissure yesterday and posted on his Youtube page.
The video clip can be seen here:
