Page 34 - All About History - Issue 08-14

Eye Witness

THE VILLAGE ERUPTION

A natural
disaster

CST
21 January
10-00am l Ólafur Gränz notices
sunken ground while
hiking across Helgafell
10-00pm l Small quakes begin
A series of small tremors occur
but are unnoticed by humans

22 January
01-00am l Over 100 tremors occur over
two hours. Activity dies down
for 12 hours

11-00pm l Seismic activity resumes, with
larger, shallower earthquakes

23 January
01-34am l A 2.7-magnitude earthquake
strikes, still barely noticeable
by humans
01-55am l Eruption begins
Eruption starts on Heimaey,
about 1km (0.6mi) from the
town centre
01-57am l The lighthouse Urdarviti
blows up as the expanding
fissure rips open next to it The eruption formed a new mountain at the
edge of town, covering hundreds of houses
02-00am l The erupting fissure has

expanded from 300m (985ft)
to 2km (1.2mi), crossing the “ I was unable to breathe… I lost consciousness
island. Almost everyone is
at the same time and was dragged out by
awake by now
02-30am l Mass evacuation my colleagues, unconscious”
The first fishing boats
start evacuating people to
the mainland the sea, and a minute later we looked on as Urdarviti, across to the mainland. Ólafur would have to take
which was filled with gas canisters, blew up.” care of both his own family as well as Hjálmar’s: “We
08-30am l Almost all of the island’s Their short chat had delayed their journey to the prepared for the evacuation in a hurry, but Hjálmar was
5,300 inhabitants have been
evacuated, by boat or plane lighthouse by only a few minutes, but it was enough summoned to the messaging station for an emergency
to save their lives. “That’s probably the reason I’m still shift.” Ólafur escorted their families through choppy
here today, talking about this,” admits Ólafur. He was waters to the small mainland village of Thorlákshöfn
09-00am l The fissure is now 3km (1.8mi)
long, and workers have 32 years old at the time, the father of seven children and from there to the capital, Reykjavík.
started saving valuables from and ran his own carpentry business, which was housed He did not stay there for long though and he recalls
houses next to the volcano
by Heimatorg square at Jómsborg in the eastern part that, “Once I had found a safe place for our families I
of town. Awe would soon be replaced by urgency: took the first plane back to the island to help people save
31 January l Island covered in ash
Tephra and ash now covers “After we had watched the magnificent spectacle for valuables and board up windows facing the eruption,
almost the entire island, up to a while we headed home to wake up our families. We which had multiplied in size in only a few hours.”
5m (16ft) deep in places had just arrived home when we got a message that the The eruption uprooted over 5,000 people from their
authorities had declared an immediate evacuation from homes, a massive number for a nation of only 210,000 at
6 February l Efforts to save the town by the island. Before we left, though, I ran over to the next the time. It sparked the formation of an official disaster
spraying the lava flow with house to wake up and alert the people there. I started relief fund, which would provide ongoing aid and
ocean water begin. They end
up saving the town by knocking on the basement window, where my friend financial support for victims of the eruption as well as
was renting. I banged on the window and said: ‘Boggi, other future disasters from then on. Ólafur’s whole world
wake up! There’s an eruption on the island!’ He came had been turned upside down, but he didn’t just sit back
24 April l The emerging volcano is
renamed Eldfell, which to the window, half-asleep and replied: ‘Shut up! You and wait for the eruption to die out. He, along with other
literally means ‘Fire Mountain’ don’t need to bother me just because you can’t sleep’. locals and the national authorities, would take part in
We met up just a short while ago and had a good laugh staunchly fighting it.
3 July l Eruption officially ends reminiscing about that.” “My longest stint was as foreman for a group of
Only one fatality is attributed, As weather had been bad for the days leading up to emergency workers, whose assignment was to board up
a man who broke into the
pharmacy and fell victim to the eruption, most of the town’s fishing boats were tied windows on the walls and roofs facing the eruption, as
poisonous gasses up at the harbour, so they were all used to ferry families Tephra rained over the town for a long time. More than
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