Fire and Ice-volcano eruption in Iceland at Fimmvorduhals, a ridge between Eyjafjallajokull glacier and Myrdalsjokull Glacier.

Fire and Ice-volcano eruption in Iceland at Fimmvorduhals, a ridge between Eyjafjallajokull glacier and Myrdalsjokull Glacier.

ARCTIC IMAGES / Alamy Stock Photo

Image ID: BKG3R4

On March 20th, 2010, an eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano began in Fimmvörðuháls following months of small earthquakes under the Eyjafjallajökull glacier. The eruption began around in the evening and opened a 0.5 km (0.3 mi) long fissure on the northern part of the pass. Just over a week later, the Fimmvörðuháls eruption produced a 300-meter-long fissure and new craters were seen erupting on a northward path toward the area of Thorsmork, a popular tourist nature preserve, prompting tours to stop briefly as volcanologists assessed the situation further. In April this was followed by a larger eruption on Eyjafjallajökull itself, and there are fears that this will trigger a much bigger eruption of nearby Katla.

Location: Eyjafjallajokull Glacier