Jóhannes Hjálmarsson works with harbor construction in Bakkafjara, south Iceland, and is one of the people who were sent out of the work camp last night because of fear of an eruption under Eyjafjallajökull.
Eyjafjallajökull glacier towers over the farm Thorvaldseyri. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
He told ruv.is that people were woken around 4 am and told to hurry up and get away. He is one of those who went to the help centre in the elementary school in Hvolsvöllur.
Around 700 people had to abandon their homes because of fear of an eruption followed by a flood.
By 6 am about 400 people had registered in at the help centre in Hvolsvöllur. Many had gone to stay with relatives and friends but 200 people were in the help centre at 6 am.
Click here to read more about the eruption and here to watch a video of the old eruption on Fimmvörduháls.
Earth tremors are reported under the summit of the Eyjafjallajökull glacier, in the south of Iceland. The Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, in consultation with geophysicists from the Icelandic Meteorological Office, have already evacuated the areas to the south of the glacier as a precautionary measure.
The authorities have contacted farms in this area and instructed them to move to Heimaland, Varmahlíd and Drangshlíd. The Police in Hvolsvöllur and local rescue teams are supervising the evacuation. The main road, National route 1, is closed from Hvolsvöllur to Skógar.
The National Emergency coordination centre in Skógarhlíd, Reykjavík is operational and is monitoring the situation with geophysicists from the Icelandic Meteorological Office.
In light of the increased volcanic activity under the summit of the Eyjafjallajökull glacier, in the south of Iceland, the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, in consultation with geophysicists from the Icelandic Meteorological Office, have decided to evacuate the neighboring areas, according to the Civil Protection evacuation plan and people are to move to the Red Cross Mass Care centers.
In Polish:
Zarejestrowano aktywnosc wulkanu pod powierzchnia lodowca Eyjafjallajökull w poludniowej czesci Islandi. Instytucja odpowiedzialna za bezpieczenstwo ludnosci w konsultacji z geologami Glownej Stacji Meteorologicznej podjela decyzja o ewakuoawaniu ludnosci zamieszkalej na poludnie od lodowca.
Ewakuowani sa mieszkancy z terenow na zachod od Markarfljót az do Skógar. W tej chwili zawiadomiani sa telefonincznie mieszkancy farm i kierowani do Heimaland, Varmahlíd i Drangshlíd. Policja z Hvolsvollur i pracownicy lokalnej strazy ratowniczej sprawuja kontrole nad przebiegiem ewakuacji. Zostala zamknieta droga numer 1 pomiedzy Hvolsvollur a Skogar. Centrum Strazy Ratunkowej w Reykjaviku znajdujace sie na ulicy Skogarhlíð monitoruje sytuacje wraz z geofizykami Stacji Metorologicznej.
W swietle podwyzszonej aktywnosci wulkanicznej pod powierzchnia lodowca Eyjafjallajökull Departament odpowiedzialny za bezpieczenstwo ludnosci w konsultacji z geologami Glownej Stacji Meteorologiczniej podjal decyzje o ewakuacji pobliskich terenow zgodnie z planem bezpieczenstwa narodowego i mieszkancy przewozeni sa do Masowego Centrum Pomocy prowadzonege przez Czerwony Krzyz.
