Iceland 50 years ago:: When Hundreds of Houses went under the lava

The volcanic eruption in Heimaey in the Westman Islands (Vestmannaeyjar), which started half a century ago, on the night of January 23rd in 1973. It is still amazing that no harm or loss of life occurred when the cold winter night erupted literally in the outskirts of the town of Westman Islands and one of the biggest sea ports of the country. The islanders set out in the dark of night with fishing boats and made it to safety on the mainland.
417 houses (one-third of all the homes and buildings on the island) went under the lava or burned during the eruption.
„Eldfell is a volcanic cone just over 200 metres (660 ft) high on the Icelandic island of Heimaey. It formed in a volcanic eruption, which began without warning on the eastern side of Heimaey, in the Westman Islands, on 23 January 1973. The name means Hill of Fire in Icelandic.
The eruption caused a major crisis for the island and led to its temporary evacuation. Volcanic ash fell over most of the island, destroying around 400 homes, and a lava flow threatened to close off the harbour, the island's main income source via its fishing fleet. An operation was mounted to cool the advancing lava flow by pumping sea water onto it, which was successful in preventing the loss of the harbour.
After the eruption, the islanders used heat from the cooling lava flows to provide hot water and to generate electricity. They also used some of the extensive tephra, fall-out of airborne volcanic material to extend the runway at the island's small airport and as landfill on which 200 new houses were built.“ - Wikipedia
Sources: National Broadcast Service and Internet Archive
Music: Rain Dance & Across the Moors by John Algar
Ísland, Iceland or:
ਆਈਸਲੈਂਡ, Islândia,
آئس لینڈ, আইস্ল্যাণ্, আইস্ল্যাণ্ড, आइसलैंड, أيسلندا,
Исландия, アイスランド, 冰島 , אִיסלַנד, ఐస్లాండ్,
İzlanda, 아이슬란드, आइसलँड
:-)