Gudmundur Hilmarsson, a pilot at Cargolux, who flew over the volcanic eruption site on the Fimmvörduháls mountain pass in south Iceland at noon today, didn’t see any signs of continued volcanic activity in the area and he couldn’t spot any lava flow either.
The eruption in late March. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
Hilmarsson told visis.is that he had looked into the two craters but couldn’t see any magma and everything seemed solidified on the surface.
The pilot only saw a few jets of steam here and there and clouds of steam in the Hrunagil canyon where water seems to be flowing out from underneath the lava.
According to geophysicist Magnús Tumi Gudmundsson, the volcanic eruption is most likely over. However, a “death certificate” cannot be issued before “the patient has definitely passed away” and it is too soon to tell whether the eruption will resume, he said.
Two teams of scientists are currently walking towards the eruption area from the highland valley of Thórsmörk.
One of the teams is planning to hike up the Morinsheidi heath and look at the craters and lava from there and the other is headed for Hvannárgil to look at the lava in the canyon and study the outflow of gases.
Click here to read more about the eruption.
