Assessment - 10 May 2010 17:30
The height of the grey or light gray eruption plume is ~5 km (17,000
ft) but sometimes it shoots up to 6 km (20,000 ft). It is heading
southeast but low level winds are variable.
Ashfall was reported to have been almost continuous during the last 24
hours at farms Drangshlíð and Skarðshlíð just south of the eruption.
The ash is rather coarse, the grain size is estimated by the farmers to
be ~2-3 mm in diameter.
The crater is getting higher. Lava flow is low and not visible on
cameras. In the afternoon there was a slight increase in explosive
activity, which resulted in a higher plume for a while.
Seismic tremor has been similar for the past 3 days. A sequence of
earthquakes started around 11:00 this morning at depths of 18 - 20 km
and magnitude range 1 - 2. The earthquake sequence this morning
indicates that magma is still flowing in from the mantle. Presently
there are no indications that the eruption is about to end.
The above is based on a
status report issued collectively by the Icelandic Meteorological Office and the Institute of Earth Sciences at
15:00 today.
