Eldfell Eruption: 50 Years Ago, a Village Fought the Lava and Won
Imagine going to sleep one night, and then being awakened in the small hours of the morning by a volcano that’s suddenly erupting right beside your town. Fifty years ago, this was the scene for residents of the small Icelandic fishing town of Heimaey, on the island of the same name.
One day, I will write it up properly. It’s an eruption that has fascinated me since childhood, and it’s a wonderful example of people battling lava and pretty much winning. But today is not that day. Instead, I have a collage of videos for you, including one featuring a younger David Attenborough on location. How awesome is this?
We love him so much.
Geology Hub has a quick introduction to Eldfell:
Just Icelandic has a snippet of an Icelandic documentary from 20 years after the eruption. Turn on Closed Captioning for subtitles, or just sit back and admire the visuals. It really brings home the power and fury of the eruption, and shares stories from survivors. You’ll also get an inside look from the geologists and emergency personnel who were involved. You’ll also see the desperate efforts to save as much of the town as possible, and the reality that many buildings and animals wouldn’t make it out.
In another video, Just Icelandic remembers 50 years ago, when his mother woke him up and told him to watch the eruption on television. He has some amazing visuals and overlays showing the extent of the new land added after the eruption, and how erosion has changed the new coastline. Turn on CC if his accent is a barrier.
The eruption was traumatizing, but it wasn’t all bad by a longshot. After the fires were gone, the villagers had a much better harbor, a new high point of the island (Eldfell, which at 660 feet was taller than previous high point Helgafell at 650 feet), a new source of energy (the slowly cooling lava flows), and lots of nifty building material (tephra). They also had one hell of a boost to their tourism industry. Volcanoes can destroy, but they also create quite a lot, and Heimaey is one of the best modern examples of what it means to live among volcanoes.
Rainbows over Eldfell. Credit: óskar elías sigurðsson (CC BY 2.0)
Featured image credit: Eldfell eruption January 23rd, 1973. Credit: óskar elías sigurðsson (CC BY 2.0)
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