Eyjafjallajökull Volcano Case Study

Question 1

When and where did the volcano occur?

Answer 1

Iceland, April 14th 2010

Question 2

What was the magnitude of the volcano?

Answer 2

VEI 4 eruption, relatively high for this volcano.

Question 3

Why is this a high-risk area for volcanoes?

Answer 3

Iceland’s position on mid-Atlantic ridge means it has a number of active volcanoes. People are used to regular eruptions.
Many volcanoes covered in ice caps, meaning when they erupt ice is melted resulting in flooding and huge ash clouds develop. As magma hits ice it cools suddenly forming a gas-like material.

Question 4

How many people died because of the eruption?

Answer 4

0

Question 5

Why was there local disruption to farming?

Answer 5

A thick layer of ash fell on farm pastures at Raufarfell. Becomes wet and compact making it very difficult to continue farming.

Question 6

What happened to air travel as a result of the eruption? How many flights/people were affected?

Answer 6

Airport closure - airport closed for several days due to ash fall
Air Space closure across mainland Europe - most significant effect as the ash cloud was injected into the polar jet stream and so affected a large area of European air space.
100,000 flights cancelled over 8 days
10 millions passengers affected

Question 7

Which secondary hazard causes roads to be washed away?

Answer 7

Local flooding – river levels quickly rose as a result of glacial meltwaters

Question 8

What were the knock on effects of air space closure?

Answer 8

The cost to the airlines is estimated to have been £1.2billion
The eruption occurred during the Easter holidays and many students and school teachers were unable to return to school on time.

Question 9

What were the social effects of heavy ash fall?

Answer 9

Decline in air quality caused schools in southern Iceland to close.
Some people experienced minor health problems

Question 10

What was created when ash mixed with meltwater?

Answer 10

Mudslides (lahars) - ash mixed with meltwater and created mudflows which were channeled into rivers increasing flood risk.

Question 11

Were there any positive impacts?

Answer 11

Decline in aircraft noise and pollution as CO2 emissions reduced.
In the longer term, nutrients released from the ash may improve soil quality.

Question 12

How many people were evacuated?

Answer 12

800 local people were evacuated because of the risk of flooding

Question 13

What was the short term response of farmers?

Answer 13

Farmers in the affect area were told to keep their livestock indoors to prevent them from eating grass or drinking water poisoned by fluorine-tainted ash.

Question 14

What was the short term response of local people to the decline in air quality?

Answer 14

People living in areas subject to heavy ash-fall were told to stay indoors.

Question 15

What was the short term response to flooding?

Answer 15

Some roads were closed for several days because of fear of flash floods.
Engineers in some cases opened gaps in the road to allow meltwater to escape, to protect bridges from collapsing under the surge of floodwater

Question 16

What was the short term response to stranded holiday makers?

Answer 16

A Royal Navy warship collected soldiers returning from Afghanistan and stranded holiday makers from the Spanish port of Santander

Question 17

What was the long term response to the flooding?

Answer 17

Local flood defences and roads had to be reconstructed.

Question 18

What long term responses were there to plan for future eruptions?

Answer 18

Close monitoring of neighbour volcano, Katla
Eruption of Katla makes eruption of Eyjafjallajökull more likely as they are relatively close.
Eruption has prompted further research into engine designs.
Insurance companies reviewed policies regarding a similar event.

Question 19

Where is the Icelandic volcano located?

Answer 19

South east coast of Iceland
North west of European continental area
Approximately 100km south east of Reykjavik (capital city)
Found in mid-Atlantic ridge between North American and Eurasian plates
Constructive plate boundary

Question 20

Hazard response and Evaluation

Answer 20

The location of the volcano directly below the Gulf stream made it impossible to
prevent travel disruptions, cancelling flights may have prevented deaths from aircraft failure.
Iceland had a good warning system with texts being sent to residents

High tech equipment was used to monitor the volcano’s progress and is being used to measure future eruptions.
This includes the measure of gases

Volcanologists are carefully monitoring the nearby volcano Katla as each recorded
eruption of Eyjafjallajokull has lead to an eruption of Katla.

Question 21

Hazard impacts

Answer 21

20 farms destroyed by flooding or ash
major impact was internationally, winds redistributed the ash that was pumped high into the atmosphere south and east over Northern and western Europe. stopped flights from taking off - Over 10 million people were left stranded.
During the main six day travel ban around 107,000 flights were cancelled / 48 % of total air traffic
people living downwind of the volcano had to wear goggles and facemasks as the ash was so thick.
London lost £102 million of tourist income due to the eruption, causing a knock-on effect for workers and travelling businesses.