Lava Flow Rate Halved Since Starting Wednesday

There have been no changes in the lava flow in the eruption at Meradalir since yesterday, reports Vísir. Natural disaster experts at the Icelandic Meteorological Office found lava flow decreased by almost half between Wednesday and Thursday.

The Volcano is on (again) at Fagradalsfjall! Check out our volcano merch in the Grapevine shop: books, T-shirts, posters even socks and more. Join our High Five club to support our volcano coverage and get discounts in our shop!

Experts are going to fly over the eruption centers again today to measure the flow.

The first aerial measurements showed the average lava flow in the first hours of the eruption was 32 cubic metres per second, which is four to five times more than at the beginning of the eruption last year. However, another measurement yesterday showed lava flow had dropped to 18 cubic metres per second.

According to Sigríðar Kristjánsdóttir, a natural hazard expert at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, the eruption still appears to be about one hundred meters long and the amount of gas from the eruption remains the same from when it first started.

Sigríður says that there has been little seismic activity in the area recently. According to the Met Office website, less than 500 earthquakes have been recorded in the area in the last 48 hours, a significant decrease from the series of earthquakes that occurred over the weekend.

The eruption is in the western side of Meradalir about 1.5 km north of Stóra-Hrút. The fire appears to originate from a northeast-southwest crack at that location.