Iceland Volcano Ruptures Amid Harold Camping Doomsday
On Saturday, a small island in Iceland witnessed its most active volcano, Grimsvotn, erupt around 5:30 p.m. local time, close to the hour that Harold Camping predicted Judgment Day would begin.
Though Iceland closed its main international airport and canceled domestic flights due to the spread of ash, smoke and steam up to 12 miles into the air, the eruption seems to be reducing in size, according to Magnús Tumi Gudmundsson, professor of Geophysics at the University of Iceland, as reported by The Associated Press.
“The fissure is not so long, maybe 500 to 800 meters wide, but extremely powerful when it goes at full blast,” he said.
"There are some signs the eruption plume is getting lower now," he said. "We may be seeing the first sign that it is starting to decline. In two or three days the worst should be over."
Camping, president of Family Radio, predicted there would be destructive earthquakes on May 21 beginning at 6 p.m. in each time zone that would alert the world that Judgment Day has begun. Small earthquakes occurred on Saturday, including in northern California and around New Zealand. But none of the events, including the volcanic eruption, were destructive to the extent that Camping predicted.
In Iceland, people are still being encouraged to avoid driving in the surrounding area, especially because of the fear of flood from melting glacier ice in the area.
According to Gudmundsson the eruption was “much bigger and more intensive than Eyjafjallajokull,” which erupted last April and ended up shutting down the airspace over parts of Europe for five days in 34 countries.
He added that because the ash is coarse, it is most likely to fall to the ground quicker.
Grimsvotn’s past eruptions also include one in 1998, 1996, and 1993, lasting from a few days to a couple of weeks.
There have been no reports of injuries or fatalities so far.
