Eyjafjallajokull 2010 Eruption Timeline

December 2009 Earthquake activity at depth (with magnitudes 1-3) around

December 2009 and an effusive (lava extruding) flank eruption at
Fimmvörðuháls, through a fissure vent not covered by the ice cap.

The first eruption, on 20 March 2010, came from an ice-free area on

20 March 2010 the north-east side of the volcano, which is 1660 m high (5300 feet),
with an ice cap on the upper slopes. This first phase of eruption
produced lava, with little explosive activity.

A subsequent phase of eruption then began in a 2.5 km-wide

caldera beneath the ice cap near the summit of the volcano on 14
April. This eruption caused melting of large amounts of ice, leading
to flooding in southern Iceland. Researchers at the University of
14 April 2010 Iceland estimated that there was around 1 km3 of ice in the summit
crater and that about 25 percent of this was melted in the first two
days of the eruption. The interaction of magma with water created a
plume of volcanic ash and gas over 10 km (33 000 feet) high, which
spread out and was carried by winds south-eastwards towards the
Faroe Islands, Norway, and northern Scotland.

18 April 2010 On Sunday 18 April researchers from the University of Iceland

estimated that about 750 tonnes of magma were ejected from the
volcano every second.

By 20 April, most of the ice in the crater appeared to have melted,

the plume was only reaching heights of up to 4 km (13 100 feet),
and the amount of material being ejected into the plume had
increased significantly. As the amount of ice available to interact
20 April 2010 with the magma decreased, the volcano changed from producing
ash to mainly producing fire fountains (Fissures are elongate
fractures or cracks in the crust along which vents may open up.
Magma can erupt through the vents as a spray known as a
fire-fountain. This spray consists of fragments of lava that may
remain largely fluid when they hit the ground, known as spatter. ) By
the end of April explosive activity had virtually ended, with a weak
plume largely made up of steam, but flowing lava had advanced a
few kilometres northwards from the crater.

In early May, explosive activity began to increase again, with more

ash being ejected into the plume. Plume height was generally
Early May 2010 around 4–6 km, but reaching at times up to 8–9 km. During the first
two weeks of May, the activity became cyclical, and earthquake
activity recorded the rise of magma and gas from depth beneath the
volcano. The explosive activity was now driven by gas dissolved in
the rising magma, rather than by the interaction of magma and
water.

23 May 2010 Explosive activity gradually decreased and by 23 May little or no

ash was being ejected from the volcano.