Scientists waiting to see if Iceland’s ‘Angry Sister’ volcano also erupts

LONDON - Scientists are waiting to see of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajvkull volcano’s ‘Angry Sister’ Katla also erupts.

Every time in recorded history that the Eyjafjallajvkull volcano has erupted, the much larger Katla volcano has also erupted, making the volcanic history of Iceland uncomfortable reading for thousands of would-be air travelers, who are stranded across northern Europe and beyond. he last time Eyjafjallajvkull erupted, it continued belching the Earth’s unsettled insides for 14 months, from December 1821 to January 1823.

According to the BBC, scientists do not expect Eyjafjallajvkull to keep northern Europe’s airports closed for 14 months, but they suggest that Eyjafjallajvkull’s impact on world travel might not end with the end of this current eruption.

Moreover, Iceland’s “Angry Sister” hasn’t even awoken yet.

The three times in recorded history when Eyjafjallajvkull has erupted, its neighbor, the much larger Katla, has followed suit.

Data does yet suggest that a Katla eruption is imminent. Yet, in some respects, it is the far greater concern, both in Iceland and beyond.

Katla has erupted 16 times since 930, in 1755 exploding so violently that its ash settled on parts of Scotland.

In 1918, Katla tore chunks of ice the size of houses from the Myrdalsjvkull glacier atop it, sending them careening down its slopes and into the Atlantic on floods of melted glacier water.

While Eyjafjallavvkull is virtually anonymous in Icelandic lore, Katla is one of the “Angry Sisters” along its even-more active twin, Hekla.

The 1918 eruption was the last major eruption of Katla - a volcano that has erupted twice a century, on average - which is why scientists have paid particularly close attention to it in recent days. (ANI)