The Eldfell Volcano

On January 23, 1973, the Eldfell Volcano on the erupted along a 1.5 mile fissure along the length of the island of Heimaey, Iceland, creating a spectacular curtain of fire.

As the volcano erupted, the island’s five thousand residents gathered to be rescued at the harbor of the town of Vestmannaeyjar. A storm with gale force winds had forced over seventy ships to seek shelter in the harbor. This timely coincidence provided a fortuitous fleet to rescue the town’s residents. The flow threatened to completely close off the harbor, which was the most important fishing port in Iceland.

The brave efforts of a few volunteers prevented the lava flow from closing the entrance to the harbor, literally saving the island’s livelihood. At first, bulldozers were used to build huge trenches in an attempt to divert the lava flow. When this did not work, someone came up with the brilliant idea to stop the lava in its tracks by pouring salt water onto the burning flow.

Over one week, 8 million cubic yards of water were sprayed on the lava, using nineteen miles of pipe and forty three pumps. Icelanders came up with a name for the heroic effort which translates to “peeing on the lava.”

Twelve hundred homes were destroyed by the volcano, but amazingly, only one life was lost and that was from toxic CO2 gas from the volcano.

Follow my daily weather history tweets on Twitter @wxhistorian.

Category: Uncategorized