At 02:00 the 23rd of January 1973
A 1600m long fissure opened up on the east side of Vestmannaeyjar
Beside a 5000 year old volcanic mountain called Helgafell
Glowing rocks exploded high up in the air from 40 craters on the fissure
Historical farmhouses where swallowed by the lava during the first night of eruption
Beautiful houses in fantastic envirnoment and used on most postcards from Vestmannaeyjar
The ash plume rose to a height around 10 km
Halla Guðmundsdóttir librarian and housewife was home alone with her 7 children
How did she react?
Firstly I had to wake up the children
I dressed those who needed help but the older  took care of it them selves
I made coffee and got some bread ready
Grabbed some clothes in a suitcase and got ready to walk into the valley
Herjólfsdalur valley....and just stay there
While this was going on
I turned out to be useless to try to wait it out from the valley
Luckily the fishing fleet was in harbour due to bad weather the day before
Almost the entire population or 5000 people was evacuated with ships to the mainland overnight
Patients and elderly people where evacuated with airplanes
It was totally up to the inhabitants to rescue them selves under hard circumstances
A team of 300 rescue workers was left behind in the island
Including Mr. Páll Zophóníasson, then holding a position as the town's engineer
What might have happened if the eruption came up during another time?
And just beside the fissure
Where the town could have been cut in half
The timing meant that everyone is asleep with their close ones
And the whole family got instant status overview
Leading to the fact there where no accidents
I think that is God's blessing
Early morning the first ships arrived to the island
That had been ordered to move there to help out
No-one knew what to expect...or what they would see
The power of the eruption was increasing as it got harder to follow up with the scenario status
Where there any indications or clues about the volcanic eruption?
Páll Einarsson Geologist answers that question
Around 30 hrs before the eruption came up
There was a big earthquake swarm
By the source....under the island...Heimaey
Most likely rather deep but we cannot confirm it due to how few earthquake sensors we had back then
So we could not use the data to determine source and depth of the earthquakes
But the earthquake swarm was very strange
And we would most likely know what's going on...if it  would happen again today
Even if so many felt the earthquake swarm, no-one suspected it to be the beginning of an eruption
The Town council was called to an meeting  during the first night
And started to form a kind of emergency plan
But literally no-one knew who should do what
How or where to start
Not even Páll who was in the line of fire as the rescue work was planned
No...there did no plan exist
Nothing to prepare for an eruption in Vestmannaeyjar
Or any other disasters for that sake
No civil protection plan? Not even we had an eruption in nearby Surtsey just 10 years prior to this eruption?
Didn't anyone put in in some context?
I think some spoke of of doing something,  like general actions. But nothing turned out of that
An emergency phone to Reykjavík was placed in my office
The Department of Civil Protection used it to get to us
Shortly after scientists and journalists arrived to the island
The Police saw a reason to send 20 big officers to the island... to keep an eye on us who where left behind
The first day passed rather calmly
Because people didn't figure out what to do
But then we started do discuss if we should rescue things from the houses closest to the fissure
And find some ways with that
But who should do it and in what order, no-one figured that out
Huge transport started on the earthly belongings of the people of Vestmannaeyjar
And some voices stated that it was often to much work for sometimes worthless belongings
But rescue workers did anyhow work day and night to get everything shipped out to the mainland
And to the owners
It's pretty clear that some things go damaged on the way
But most precious was to have no casualtys
The eruption was extremely powerful during the first day's
After a week later the devastation was tremendous, enough to make rescue workers wonder about the future
112 houses had already burned.... or where under lava
3 day's later it was estimated that the lava flow was already 40 million cubic meters
Covering 1.4 square kilometres by then
It was also estimated that 2 million cubic meters of ash was already covering the island
On the east side of the the ash plume was already  6-7m deep
The town's firefighters had to retreat often because circumstances became un-managable
Elías Baldvinssons - Currant fire chief
When did the first houses start to burn?
It was during the first night
The farmhouses east of the town burned first
It was a...
...dairy farm
And they brought the animals to the harbour during the first night of eruption
Most of them was slaughtered there
That was a sad moment when the farmers had to do this
And to do it during the night and the day after
Did you see your house go under lava?
Yes...it was hit by an ash plume that the lave pushed on the house
The lava took a large area but this was in March
During the day when most houses got covered with lava
So many other things where getting damaged than my house so I didn't feel anything
Prior to this I already had evaluated my life's quality from a housebuilding
It got ruined there so....
So at least I know that a house is nothing to cry over
In March or just about 2 months from the beginning of the eruption
The lava who most of the time moved slowly.... could now move for up to 50 metres pr. hour
In April it was 1200 degrees hot and moving fast or around 30-40 tons pr. sec
The new mountain Eldfell had already reached over 200m altitude in February
Slightly lower than the 5000 year old volcanic mountain beside it.... Helgafell (226m)
Páll Steingrímsson Movie-maker has the honour for lot's of the footage from the eruption
Didn't you have mixed feelings to film this natural catastrophe In your hometown?
I knew lots of people from the island who didn't feel good about their fate
And had to stay on the mainland
And it was heartbreaking to see old people cry
But in Vestmannaeyjar
Everyone acted like it was just temporary problems
And never a question whether to give up
And I became a part of that theatre
And the theatre show moved on
Few people isolated on erupting island
Fighting with fire and ash and all that during winter
Clear ash from rooftops, open them and adding support under them
Did they get totally crazy over there?
As deadly volcanic gas clouds came over the town
That invisible enemy started to show up in late February
It caused one death
A man was found dead in a basement
The only victim of the eruption
Jens Kristinsson worked as Smoke Diver and got a quick seminar as Gas-Diver
It got you all warmed up...you could easily feel where the gas was
How high it was reaching on you and such
Was it fatal gas?
Or what do you think?
I don't know about that
But we did found dead birds where the land was lowest
And people got in problems sometimes so we had to learn to work around it
And in calm weather it could cover the complete lower part of town
Ofter way higher up than me so sometimes I needed to find a stairway on a house or something
That would often work out
You could easily feel the gas when it hit you
But it was just in calm weather...... during storms we had no gas problems
It was like a fog
Like in the harbour you could see the gas go like a waterfall down from the pier
it was very visible
As the spring came there was no indication of an end to the eruption
Communication problems came to the surface since the island was closed off to the public without permission
Many got bitter because the wanted to look after their properties and busnessis
Many wanted to make preparations to move their companies to the mainland
Tryggvi worked for the shipyard and one of many with business interests in the island
But the wasn't allowed to go to Vestmannaeyjar
I had literally to smuggle my self to here from the mainland
How did you do it?
I made the trip trough a false story that I was a crew member of the harbour's tug boat
So you got to the island?
Yes
What made you do it?
To check on my properties here
My house and my Machine Shop
Everything was moved to the mainland and we opened the shop again in Kópavogur
Most of it was moved with a plane from the US Airforce
Tens of tons since we needed to move all raw materials as well
Around 70 tons I think
Still under threat!
It looked like the lava flow would close the harbour
And that would be the end of it
Vestmannaeyjar harbour the lifeblood on Iceland's south coast...without harbours
Which might be the main reason for this relentless rescue operation
So the experiment was made to cool the lava stream
Professor Þorbjörn Sigurgeirsson was first to mention this option
They pumped up to million tons of seawater on the lava stream
Around 1 cubic meter every second just trough the big pumping system
And a tugboat pumped tens of thousands of cubic meters on the lava to prevent it to close the harbour
From that we could see this tremendous energy that the lava created from the water
It was a success to rescue the harbour and open up a district heating system from the energy from the lava
But the island didn't look all that good
They worked on shifts removing ash or about 1200 truckloads on average every day
The material was used to make longer runways for the airport and elsewhere it could be used
The people of Vestmannaeyjar where getting inpatient and July 3rd... the end of the eruption was announced
Of 5000 inhabitants, 3000 moved back that summer
The island that used to be 11.3 sq.km was now 13.4 sq.km
They repaired and fixed what ever needed some work
So in remarkable short time the island started to look more like it did before
By then the had removed 1.5 million cubic meters
I live and though shall live - The most famous Church Gate in Europe in 1973
Just like the 1973 photo of this statue that cried trough the hardship
And still stands there with it's open arm toward the 20 year old volcano
We are sitting on the lava...that's on top of your house
Exactly here
What's on your mind but you told me you haven't been here before
I have never been here since....
I'm not sure what I'm thinking
It changed a lot for me...
...during those times
But life just moved on...
...I made a new home
Life goes on
The only house wreck in town
It is noticeable the the islanders removed all marks of the eruption
And the destruction from it
Up to the limit of their own resources
And there is no hesitation to build new villa's on this active volcano
It's sometimes stated that Vestmannaeyjar has the highest avg. income in Iceland
First after the eruption i could feel that many people where rougher and more sceptic around here
But the Puffin hunters didn't change
Páll Stefánsson and the Puffin helped us to get back on track
After few day's in the island the visitor has experianced...
...a cheerful, loud and straight forward nation
The characteristic of this people here reveals some kind of untamed  freedom
Sigurður Sigurðsson is a student from Reykjavík but what does he feel about the life here?
I really love to come and stay here. It's the top for me
I cannot think of a summer elsewhere
it's just so much better to stay here during summers than in the city
The 6 week Puffing hunting season will be over soon
Jakob has spent the last weeks in the small islands around
He's a rising star in the business and confirms that the numbers of Puffin are on the rise in the islands
He's a hunter and conservationists in right proportions
And sells us a full bag of bloody birds
The lava did not manage to damage one of Iceland's oldest concrete churches
Behind the church we have the 20 year old volcano
It's looking forward to get it's green uniform as the 5000 year old neighbouring volcano
It's here where the windspeed brakes all records in Iceland
Making it really hard to get plants and even grass to stick to the former lava field
But this work started right after the eruption
Since then complete spots of growth have simply gone with the wind
Complete hillsides disappeared during one stormy night
A travel business in Vestmannaeyjar did simply not exist
Prior to the eruption I had a store with furnitures and electronics
But I often took tourists for tours because there was no such service around back then
So often I simply closed my store in order to provide some sightseeing tours in the islands around
I felt it as worth the while
I started with one bus
But little by little is has expanded
So today we have 7 busses and fantastic boat
And the next step is a Hotel with 40 rooms
We have a restaurant, a pub and a nightclub
Another thing with the eruption that made some benefits for the island is the accessibility to the harbour
The ferry captain explains what the lava changed
The lava created a sort of wave-breaker where we sail into the harbour
Meaning we can sail in and out of the harbour in literally every weather there is
But that's not like it used to be when we had often to wait for safe moment's
And ships where often in danger in this area
As proven by old tales, photo's and experiance
So from that perspective the harbour is way better than is used to be
So here are now 5000 people living by the roots of an volcano... and act as nothing ever happened
But are they not scared to live on an volcanic island..... with plenty of space upon the mainland?
This is what all Icelanders live with
When Phil Dean Anti Nuclear activist visited Vestmannaeyjar
I told him that I would rather live here than close to the Barsebäck nuclear plant in Sweden
And I think I'm sticking to that answer
I really love it here, it's a beautiful place and it's good to live here
I take comfort in the fact we have a 5000 year old volcano as well
And the new one is 20 year's old now
So we should have 4980 years until the next one goes off
They look nice together despite of almost 5000 year age differance
But what does the scientist Páll Einarsson say about the future
Vestmannaeyjar, all this cluster of islands....
...was formed in volcanic eruptions and all this area is a volcanic system... in geological definition
And this is very young system but we can say it's not even a teenager
It's closer to say it's near birth and just starting to show it self
Those 2 eruptions in Surtsey and Vestmannaeyjar belong to a period of unrest
That might still be going on but we don't know
But it would not be a surprise if we had another eruption in this island cluster
But there are no indications toward the scenario in the moment
The interviews you just watched ais 27 years old and it's now 47 years from the eruption
Those houses where under ash for decades but are now a part of a museum and the tourism is blooming
There has been no volcanic activity there since 1973 but nearby Eyjafjallajökull erupted in 2010
Vestmannaeyjar is one of Iceland's most interesting places to visit
And overall it's a kind of different breed of Icelanders who live there in the islands
I hope you enjoyed this footage I translated but it's lots of more recent footage from the islands on Youtube
And you can always visit Iceland :)
