Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Incredible Images of Iceland Volcano from Just a Few Kilometers Away

Lightning visible in the plume of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland on April 17, 2010. Image courtesy of Snaevarr Gudmundsson.

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Astronomer Snaevarr Gudmundsson from Iceland was able to travel to within just a few kilometers from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, and shared his incredible close-up images with Universe Today. “I stayed near the volcano from about 16:00 hours to 22:00 hours on Saturday and watched its impressive eruption,” Gudmundsson said in an email to me. “Amazing event, awesome explosions of 1200 °C hot magma reaching ice and water. I shot more than 550 images during these hours of continuous enjoyment. Sounds ridiculous but its ever changing appearance was never boring.”

The massive plume put on an impressive display – from lightning forming within the plume to an incredible amount of spewing ash. On one of following pictures you can see helicopter for size comparison of the plume

The massive plume of Eyjafjallajokull volcano dwarfs a helicopter flying nearby (upper left). Image courtesy of and copyright Snaevarr Gudmundsson.

Gudmundsson said he and other photographers were a safe distance from the eruption, but were a few kilometers away. “Nearby was a small river and its prominent sound prevented us from hearing much in the eruption itself except a loud roar from thunders from time to time,” he said. “During daylight we even glimpsed some lightning but at dusk (the photo is taken at about 22:00 in the evening) they were easily spotted especially during active periods of explosions.”

The plume of Eyjafjallajokull volcano on April 17, 2010. Image courtesy of and copyright Snaevarr Gudmundsson.

I asked if there was any smell associated with the Iceland volcano and Gudmundsson said there was a bit of sulphuric smell in the air even though they were in a location where the wind was blowing towards the volcano. “The ash went to the other side of the volcano, as you can suggest, making life miserable for farmers and households below, but the rest of it climbed to higher altitude and from there to Europe.”

“From the foot of the volcano to the prominent top, seen in front of the tephra cloud (seen on some of the photos) the overall height is about 1300 -1400 m,” Gudmundsson said. “When the eruption began a huge flood went down beneath the obvious glacier to the left from the crater. And if you look closely on the photo showing the foot hills under the mountain a lot of icebergs can be seen on the flood plain. Under that same glacier was a rather deep lagoon (can’t been seen but sat between the two high moraines on either side of it, in front of the glacier) but sediment from the eruption filled it up in only two days at most! That is unbelievable. I have climbed this glacier many times but to approach it one usually must traverse the moraine, around the lagoon to reach the ice. But suddenly it is gone.”

Another view of Eyjafjallajokull volcano on April 17, 2010. Image courtesy of and copyright Snaevarr Gudmundsson.

Gudmundsson said the flood paths can be seen below the glacier as a narrow gorges carved into rather soft volcanic sediment.

Some of the latest reports from Iceland say that in some areas the volcanic fallout has been significant, clogging car engines, turning grass grey and reducing visibility to just a few meters.

The police say driving conditions can be very difficult in these places, but the area affected is remote with only a few hundred people, most of them living in isolated homes and many of them farmers. They have been advised to stay inside with the windows and doors shut and if they do venture out to wear goggles and a mask.

The staff of Landhelgisgæslan (Icelandic Coastal Patrol) captured this radar image of the craters in Eyjafjallajökull on Friday. There are three main openings and each one is 200-500m in diameter.

Radar image of the volcano, taken by the Icelandic Coastal Patrol.

Our very special thanks to Snaevarr Gudmundsson for sharing his images and experiences of seeing the volcano “up close and personal.” Also thanks to Col Maybury of radio station 2NUR in Newcastle, Australia for connecting me with Snaevarr (yes my connection to Iceland came through Australia!) and also thanks to erlinger on Twitter for help with Icelandic translations of news reports.

Other sources: mbl.is, BBC

Here are some more Iceland pictures.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Spectacular Footage, Satellite Images of Eyjafjallajokull Volcano in Iceland

NASA's Terra Satellite captured this image on April 15, 2010 of the volcano and resulting ash plume. NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.

A volcano under a glacier in Iceland erupted Wednesday, melting ice, shooting smoke and steam into the air and forcing hundreds of people to leave their homes. The resulting ash plume has also halted air traffic over much of Europe. Scientists said the eruption under the ice cap was 10 to 20 times more powerful than an eruption from the that happened from the Eyjafjallajokullin Volcano late last month. “This is a very much more violent eruption because it’s interacting with ice and water,” said Andy Russell, an expert in glacial flooding at the University of Newcastle in northern England, in an article on the CBC website. The dramatic footage in the video here was released today, April 15, and satellite images, below, show how far the ash plume has traveled.

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The iceland volcano sent a plume of ash and steam across the North Atlantic prompting airspace closures in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, and Scandinavia, which then had a ripple effect, disrupting flights to and from other countries as well. Authorities could not say how long the airspace closure would last, and the ash’s spread threatened to force closures of additional airspace over the coming days.

NASA's EO-1 Satellite took this image on April 1, 2010. NASA image by Robert Simmon, using ALI data from the EO-1 team

This natural-color satellite image shows the area of the eruption on April 1, when a new vent opened up. The image was acquired by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite.

The volcano, about 120 kilometres east of Reykjavik, erupted March 20 after almost 200 years of silence.

Watch an animation from ESA of how the plume traveled.

Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland, said magma was melting a hole in the thick ice covering the volcano’s crater, sending water coursing down the glacier, and causing widespread flooding.

Iceland’s main coastal ring road was closed near the volcano, and workers smashed a hole in the highway in a bid to give the rushing water a clear route to the coast and prevent a major bridge from being swept away.

Sources: CBC, NASA Earth Observatory, ESA

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Satellite Images of Chile Earthquake

Smoke and haze linger over Santiago, Chile after the magnitude 8.8 earthquake on Feb. 27, 2010. Credit: NASA

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Haze lingered over the metropolitan area of Santiago, Chile, following a magnitude 8.8 earth quake on February 27, 2010. In an image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite at 14:25 UTC, black smoke hung over the northern part of the city, while light-colored haze (perhaps pollution and/or dust) covered the southern part of the city and filled a canyon that cuts eastward into the mountains. Below, in an image acquired on February 23, shows the city and surroundings under clear-sky conditions.


The region around Santiago, Chile on Feb. 23, 2010, before the quake. Credit: NASA

Below, a map of topography and water depth of the west coast of South America, which is a subduction zone, where the Nazca Plate is plowing under the South America Plate at an average rate of 80 millimeters (3 inches) per year. Their collision gives rise to the spectacular Andes Mountains as well as to devastating earthquakes. Lighter colors indicate higher elevation on land and shallower depth in the water. Quake locations and magnitudes are indicated by black circles. The topography is based on radar data collected during the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, which flew onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour in mid-February 2002.

A map showing topography, water depth and earthquake magnitudes. Credit: NASA

See our earlier article of the images taken by ISS astronauts of the region shortly after the earthquake.

Sources: NASA Earth Observatory

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Chilean Earthquake May Have Shortened the Length of a Day on Earth

This view of Earth comes from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard the Terra satellite.

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Yikes! Just how big was the magnitude 8.8 earth quake in Chile? One scientist says the shaking may have affected the entire planet by shifting Earth on its axis. This possibly may have shortened the length of a day on Earth by about 1.26 microseconds. Using a complex model JPL research scientist Richard Gross computed how Earth’s rotation should have changed as a result of the Feb. 27, 2010 quake. If his figures are correct, the quake should have moved Earth’s figure axis (the axis about which Earth’s mass is balanced) by 2.7 milliarcseconds (about 8 centimeters, or 3 inches).

Earth’s figure axis is not the same as its north-south axis; they are offset by about 10 meters (about 33 feet). By comparison, Gross said the same model estimated the 2004 magnitude 9.1 Sumatran earthquake should have shortened the length of day by 6.8 microseconds and shifted Earth’s axis by 2.32 milliarcseconds (about 7 centimeters, or 2.76 inches).

Gross said that even though the Chilean earthquake is much smaller than the Sumatran quake, it is predicted to have changed the position of the figure axis by a bit more for two reasons. First, unlike the 2004 Sumatran earthquake, which was located near the equator, the 2010 Chilean earthquake was located in Earth’s mid-latitudes, which makes it more effective in shifting Earth’s figure axis.

Second, the fault responsible for the 2010 Chiliean earthquake dips into Earth at a slightly steeper angle than does the fault responsible for the 2004 Sumatran earthquake. This makes the Chile fault more effective in moving Earth’s mass vertically and hence more effective in shifting Earth’s figure axis.

Gross said the Chile predictions will likely change as data on the quake are further refined.

Source: JPL

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Chilean Telescopes OK, ESO, Gemini Report

The ESO Very Large Array atop Cerro Paranal, northern Chile (ESO).

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The European Southern Observatory, which has several telescopes housed in the mountains of Chile, issued a press release that none of the observatories suffered any damage, and they have no reports of any staff that were injured or killed in the magnitutde 8.8 earthquake that struck central Chile on February 27, 2010:

Despite being the 7th strongest earthquake ever recorded worldwide, the ESO observatory sites did not suffer any damage, partly as they are engineered to withstand seismic activity and partly due to their distances from the epicentre. At La Silla, a power cut caused observations to stop during the night. Paranal Observatory, the APEX telescope and the ALMA Operations Support Facility and Array Operations Site were unaffected.

Additionally, the Gemini South Observatory posted on their website that they experienced no significant damage:

Sunset over Gemini South. Credit: Gemini

Gemini was fortunate that there were no significant structural damages to any of our facilities. The earthquake disrupted observations on early Saturday morning for less than 30 minutes. Subsequent operations have been essentially normal with the exception of Internet connectivity. We are dealing with communications and minor power inconsistencies that should be solved once general Chilean infrastructure issues are resolved. The temblor struck about 700 kilometers south of Gemini South which is on Cerro Pachón.

ESO reported that they are experiencing power outages and network interruptions, which means that communication may be limited. “Disruption to staff travel plans within, to, and from Chile should be expected. We urge Visiting Astronomers with observations planned at ESO observatories to put their trips to Chile on hold until further notice. International flights to and from Santiago International Airport are currently either cancelled or diverted. Information about observing programmes will be provided at a later date,” the press release said.

Other observatories in Chile include Cerro Tololo (CTIO) and SLOOH. The servers for the websites for these observatories were down on Saturday, but are now back up.

The SLOOH Twitter account reported late Sunday that their observatory has no power but scope, pier and dome appear to be OK. “Won’t know more until power is restored,” they said.

Update (3/1/2010): Mark T. Adams from NRAO sent this report via Facebook (thanks to Richard Drumm for forwarding it on to UT!):

“We’ve been able to contact or have heard from most of our staff based in or visiting Chile, and we are relieved to report that there appear to be no injuries to our staff or their families. Communication remains very difficult: land-lines, cell-phones, and the Internet are intermittent and unreliable.

“The ALMA Array Operations Site and Operations … See MoreSupport Facilities in northern Chile suffered no damage other than loss of communications. It may take a few days for the completion of a safety inspection of the NRAO/AUI and JAO offices in Santiago, which suffered some damage.”

The earthquake epicentre was 115 km north-northeast of the city of Concepción and 325 km south-west of the capital Santiago. The earthquake caused significant casualties and damage in the country.

Source: ESO, Gemini South

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Why Was the February 27, 2010 Tsunami Smaller than Expected?

Chart of the Chile tsunami's travel time, released by the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

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While a huge earthquake off the coast of Chile triggered a tsunami that moved at the speed of a jet aircraft across the Pacific Ocean on Feb. 27, the tsunami event – thankfully — was smaller than scientists expected. Some experts forecasted the event would produce 9-foot tall tsunami waves slamming coastlines along the Pacific Rim, which did not materialize; it would have been one of the biggest tsunami on record. At magnitude 8.8, this earthquake was among the largest seismic activity ever recorded. So, why was the resulting tsunami not a “mega event” as well?

“It is too early to know for sure,” said Anne Sheehan, a geologist from the University of Colorado – Boulder.

“It was a truly enormous “megathrust” earthquake, shallow and offshore,” Sheehan told Universe Today. “That kind of earthquake can generate a large tsunami if it displaces a large area of seafloor vertically (either up or down). It could be that more of the earthquake displacement was at depth below the seafloor, and did not rupture the seafloor surface as much as was expected given the size and depth of the earthquake.”

Sheehan said the Chilean earthquake released more than 400 times the energy of the recent Haiti earthquake. “It was truly an enormous earthquake in terms of energy release, the largest in the world since the 2004 Sumatra earthquake and the fifth largest since 1900,” she said.

The earthquake that generated the great Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 is estimated to have released the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The 8.8 quake in Chile released the energy equivalent of 20 billion tons of TNT, or 400 times the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated, the Tsar Bomba, a 50 megaton test done by the USSR in 1961.

A tsunami warning buoy was deployed by the Chilean Navy and WHOI off the northern coast of Chile in December 2004 as part of a national warning system west of Chile. (Photo by Robert Weller, WHOI)

Chile is along the “Ring of Fire” that stretches north from South America to the Aleutian Islands, then south through Japan, Indonesia and to New Zealand. The fault zone of the Chilean earthquake was extremely long — several hundred miles — signaling the potential for further large earthquakes in the region.

“These large earthquakes in the Southern Hemisphere have the potential to cause tsunamis all over the Pacific Rim,” Sheehan said in a press release. “Fortunately, people have a much greater understanding of the phenomenon today. Before 2004, a lot of people didn’t even know what a tsunami was,” she said.

Sheehan said she believes that lessons learned by Chilean experts following a world-recording setting magnitude 9.5 quake there in 1960, and subsequent quakes in the next several decades, resulted in stricter building codes, saving many lives. “The death toll is expected to be far smaller than in Haiti, an example showing that mitigation efforts really can be effective.”

As of this writing, the death toll stands of the Chile earthquake stands at 711. The quake in Haiti killed over 200,000 people.

Early earthquake picture posted on Twitter by @tapeks.

Lessons learned from the 2004 Indian Ocean event also allowed officials to send out effective early warnings and initiate the evacuation of tens of thousands of people living on Pacific islands. Now, even more is being learned about the nature of tsunamis from this latest event, and future predictions should improve.

Sources: Email interview with Anne Sheehan, CU-Boulder press release

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

ISS Astronaut Sends Twitpics of Chile Earthquake Aftermath

Santiago, the capital city of Chile. One day after the Mega earthquake(M8.8) hit the country. We wish the earliest recovery. Credit: Soichi Noguchi

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Astronaut Soichi Noguchi, (@Astro_Soichi) who has taken full advantage of being able to use Twitter live from the International Space Station, has been sending down a stream of images he has taken of Chile following the magnitude 8.8 earthquake that hit the country early Saturday. Just recently, he posted the above image, taken directly over Santiago. “Santiago, the capital city of Chile. One day after the Mega earthquake(M8.8) hit the country. We wish the earliest recovery,” Noguchi wrote on Twitter. He also took a video of the ISS astronaut’s view as they flew over Chile earlier today, below.

Here’s another image Noguchi took from the ISS, of the coastline of Chile, near Santiago.

Near Santiago, Chile. Coast line. Credit: Soichi Noguchi

And another, near Concepcion, Chile.

Coastline near Concepcion, Chile. Credit: Soichi Noguchi

For more images from space, follow @Astro_Soichi on Twitter.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

8.8 Magnitude Earthquake in Chile; Tsunamis Predicted for Pacific Region

Map showing regions likely to be hit by tsunamis following 8.8 earthquake in Chile. Credit: NOAA

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A devastating magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, shattering buildings and bridges, killing over 100 people and setting off a tsunami that threatens every nation around the Pacific Ocean — roughly a quarter of the globe. Experts warned that a tsunami could strike anywhere in the Pacific, and Hawaii could face its biggest tsunami since 1964. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center predicts a possible 2.5 meter (8.2-foot) wave to strike Hilo, Hawaii, at 11:05 a.m. local time (4:05 p.m. ET).

The National Weather Service has issued a tsunami warning for the entire West Coast of the US, and is advising everyone in coastal counties to stay away from beaches and shorelines this afternoon when a tsunami producing strong currents and a series of potentially dangerous waves is expected to hit the coast at around 1:20 p.m PST.

Alaska is also threatened, and tsunami waves could possibly hit Asian, Australian and New Zealand shores within 24 hours of the earth quake. See the map above of the tsunami predicted paths.

Map of Chile. Credit: USGS

The quake struck at 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. EST, 0634 GMT) 200 miles (325 kilometers) southwest of Santiago.

Chilean TV showed devastating images of the most powerful quake to hit the country in a half-century: In the second city of Concepcion trucks plunged into the fractured earth, homes fell, bridges collapsed and buildings were engulfed in flames. Injured people lay in the streets or on stretchers.

Many roads were destroyed and electricity and water were cut to many areas.

Several astronomical observatories are located in Chile, and as of this writing, the word on Twitter is that Gemini South’s servers have come back online, but Cerro Tololo (CTIO) and SLOOH servers are down. No word on telescopes yet at Paranal, which is north of Santiago, Chile. From the ALMA crew at NRAO, “Reports from our people in Santiago are trickling in; so far everyone is ok, but quite rattled.”

Links of interest:
NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

Live streaming news from Hawaii

Estimated arrival times for tsunamis.