As the glowing river of lava from a volcano that erupted final week in Iceland ebbed, not everybody was glad.
Hazel Lane, a 49-year-old dental apply supervisor in London, had booked a ticket to Reykjavik as quickly as she noticed footage of the eruption on tv, hoping to witness spectacular lava flows beneath molten pink skies.
Lane had already visited Iceland the earlier month, however it was too quickly. Although authorities had by that time evacuated the almost 4,000 inhabitants of the close by city of Grindavik, weeks handed earlier than the volcano – which lies about 40 km (25 miles) southwest of Reykjavik – erupted on Dec. 18.
“I had a crazy notion of going to Reykjavik for the day to fly over the volcanic eruption,” Lane stated. She arrived together with her son and his girlfriend on Dec. 22 to discover that lava flows had already diminished.
“We’re disappointed that the volcanic activity has ceased but we will still have a beautiful day in Reykjavik.”
Lane will most likely not have to wait lengthy earlier than the subsequent eruption. Iceland, which is roughly the scale of the U.S. state of Kentucky and has fewer than 400,000 residents, boasts greater than 30 lively volcanoes.
That makes the north European island a first-rate vacation spot for volcano tourism – a distinct segment section that attracts 1000’s of thrill seekers yearly to websites from Mexico and Guatemala, to Sicily, Indonesia and New Zealand.
The decreased exercise of the volcano close to Grindavik quelled worries of a repeat of the journey chaos brought on by ash from a significant eruption of the island’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano in 2010.
But for native tour businesses, planning to take vacationers to the positioning, it was a missed alternative. Recent eruptions – just like the 2021 Fagradalsfjall volcano in southwest Iceland – have drawn 1000’s of holiday makers.
Troll Expeditions – which presents excursions to Iceland’s ice caves, glaciers, geothermal swimming pools in addition to a spread of volcano journeys – stated vacationer bookings to Iceland dropped earlier than the Grindavik eruption due to the earthquakes preceeding it. But the eruption itself shortly introduced again curiosity.
“People are very excited to see the volcano. Unfortunately, the eruption has paused for the moment,” the corporate stated by e mail, noting it was the fourth eruption within the space up to now three years.
“The other eruptions have been great for tourism, as they have been so-called ‘tourist eruptions’ where you can get quite close to the crater and witness the lava flow.”
Iceland’s former president, Olafur Ragnar Grímsson, was already encouraging guests to prepare for January.
“The predictions are that in two weeks the eruption might start again! Book your flight now so you can witness the Earth being created!” he stated in a Dec. 23 submit on social media platform X, previously referred to as Twitter.
Managing dangers
For devoted ‘lava chasers’, nothing beats an arduous climb to the highest of a volcano, the stroll round a crater and the scent of sulphur within the air.
Often eruptions might be predicted effectively prematurely, leaving loads of time for evacuations and warnings.
When Mauna Loa in Hawaii, the world’s largest lively volcano, erupted late final yr for the primary time since 1984, 1000’s of awestruck onlookers flocked to see its glowing lava streams. Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency had already stated there have been no indicators that lava would threaten populated areas.
But in another instances, vacationers have paid with their lives.
At the beginning of this month, Indonesia’s Marapi volcano erupted, killing 22 folks: climbers who perished close to the crater. Marapi is among the most lively volcanoes on Sumatra island and beforehand erupted in January and February this yr.
Indonesia, which straddles the so-called “Ring of Fire” across the rim of the Pacific Ocean, is house to greater than 100 lively volcanoes.
White Island in New Zealand, which can also be recognized by the Maori title of Whakaari, has been closed since a catastrophe in 2019 when a volcanic eruption killed 22 folks, principally vacationers. It used to frequently host guests, although eruptions weren’t unusual.
Despite such incidents, visiting volcanoes stays well-liked and, by managing dangers correctly, the possibility of accidents might be minimalised, stated Tom Pfeiffer, a geologist and volcanologist who runs VolcanoDiscovery, an organization in Germany.
They organise excursions to volcanoes world wide in small teams, taking up round 150 folks per yr to locations together with Java, Sulawesi, Sicily, and in addition Iceland. He stated curiosity in visiting volcanoes fluctuated just a little, relying on how a lot media consideration they had been getting, however was usually fairly regular.
“I’m sure the average number of accidents of volcano tourists is much lower than the average number of mountain sport accidents,” Pfeiffer stated by e mail. “This also holds despite the fortunately very rare cases of big disasters like the recent one at Marapi.”
Pfeiffer stated most of the accidents that did happen had been due to an absence of preparation or data, or extra threat taking. Relying on native recommendation from authorities, volcano observatories and counting on guides with in depth expertise may all mitigate the change of something going unsuitable.
“In case of doubt, we never take the risk,” he added.
Iceland has witnessed various eruptions in recent times, from ones the place lava flows from fissures – just like the one final week – to explosive ones of ice-covered volcanoes that spew ash plumes, the place fireplace meets the ice. Many of them have been main vacationer attracts, with the dangers well-flagged by native authorities.
The space round Grindavik stays closed off for now, and the Icelandic Metrological Office stated on Dec. 27 that magma continued to accumulate beneath Svartsengi on the Reykjanes peninsula, which means there’s a likelihood of a contemporary eruption.
Arnar Mar Olafsson, Director General of the Icelandic Tourist Board, stated that some vacationers had not revered the closure zone across the eruption web site and had to be turned away as a result of they had been heading in direction of the volcano.
“People really want to get close and to go closer and see, but they don’t really realize often how dangerous it is,” he stated.
