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The village of Vestmannaeyjar, in the far northern
country of Iceland, is as bright and clean
and up-to-date as any American or Canadian suburb. It is located on
the island of Heimaey, just off the
mainland. One January night in 1973, however, householders were
shocked from their sleep. In some backyards red-hot liquid was
spurting from the ground. Flaming “skyrockets” shot up and over the
houses. The island’s volcano, Helgafell,
silent for seven thousand years, was violently erupting!
Luckily,
the island’s fishing fleet was in port, and within twenty-four hours almost
everyone was ferried to the mainland. But then the agony of the
island began in earnest. As in a nightmare, fountains of burning lava
spurted three hundred feet high. Black, baseball-size cinders rained
down. An evil-smelling, eye-burning, throat-searing cloud of smoke
and gas erupted into the air, and a river of lava flowed down the
mountain. The constant shriek of escaping steam was punctuated by
ear-splitting explosions.
As
time went on, the once pleasant village of Vestmannaeyjar took on a weird
aspect. Its street lamps still burning against the long Arctic night,
the town lay under a thick blanket of cinders. All that could be seen
above the ten-foot black drifts were the tips of street signs. Some
houses had collapsed under the weight of cinders; others had burst into
flames as the heat ignited their oil storage tanks. Lighting the
whole lurid scene, fire continued to shoot from the mouth of the looming
volcano.
The
eruption continued for six months. Scientists and reporters arrived
from around the world to observe the awesome natural event. But the town
did not die that easily. In July, when the eruption ceased, the
people of Heimaey Island returned to assess the
chances of rebuilding their homes and lives. They found tons of ash
covering the ground. The Icelanders are a tough people, however,
accustomed to the strange and violent nature of their Arctic land.
They dug out their homes. They even used the cinders to build new
roads and airport runways. Now the new homes of Heimaey
are warmed from water pipes heated by molten lava.
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