In Iceland, red light lit up the night sky because a volcano erupted there in the evening of December 18th. Large amounts of glowing lava can be seen in videos and photos on the Internet. This is what liquid rock from the upper layers of the earth is called. When a volcano allows this lava to rise to the earth’s surface, it is called a volcanic eruption.
The volcanic eruption was not surprising. As early as November, people in Iceland were expecting a volcano to erupt soon. But why actually? The reason for this was earthquakes. There have been more of these in Iceland in the last few weeks. Because earthquakes can be a sign of a volcanic eruption – if there are volcanoes nearby.
people safe
The good thing about it: We already knew that a volcano would soon spit fire. And so many people were brought to safety before the outbreak even occurred. For example, people from a fishing village had to leave their homes.
The volcano finally erupted right near this village. People are allowed to go back to their houses briefly during the day – for example to get things. But they can’t move back in at the moment – that would be too dangerous.
Volcano: Ash in the air
But it’s not just the hot lava that’s dangerous during a volcanic eruption. When a volcano erupts, a lot of ash is produced. This is then also in the air. Breathing them in can make you sick. This is also why people have to keep their distance from the volcano.
And this ash can also paralyze traffic – especially in the air. When a volcano erupted in Iceland in 2010, many planes were grounded. A total of 10,000 flights had to be canceled. Because of the large ash cloud, flying would have been far too dangerous.