Öræfajökull volcano warming up?

Öræfajökull volcano is one of the biggest volcanoes in Iceland. It is located in the south part of the Vatnajökull glacier, by Hvannadalshnjúkur 2109 m high, in the south-east part of Iceland.

Öræfajökull has erupted twice since the settlement of Iceland. In 1362 when the volcano destroyed the area called Litla-Hérað (The small Shire) killing a lot of people and destroying a lot of lands. After that eruption, the area was called Öræfi or wasteland. The second volcanic eruption in Öræfajökull volcano was in 1727, a smaller one but did cost some damage to the surrounding area.

For the past months, Öræfajökull volcano has shown an increase in activity underneath the glacier with more geothermal activity and increase in earthquakes in the area around the volcano as well.

So scientists are paying more attention to the volcano than before, collecting data and trying to predict what is going on there. It is hard to say but it will be interesting to follow up with Öræfajökull in the next weeks and mounts and see if we will have another volcanic eruption making the headlines like Eyjafjallajökull volcano did in 2010.

Let's wait and see