At 1:00am on January 23, 1973, the Eldfell volcano erupted on the Icelandic island of Heimaey without any warning. There were small earthquakes and then the earth opened up along over 5,000 feet of fissures. The volcano spewed lava high into the air. The entire town of 5,000 people evacuated the island in the middle of the night. By chance, the weather had been bad and their entire fishing fleet had stayed in the harbor that night and so the fishing boats were used to evacuate the town.

While this happened over 40 years ago, it is still a major part of the town’s history and their present day life. The results of the volcano still exist at many places on the island. No one died that night but the lava eventually buried about a third of the town. Many people never returned but the island has made population gains until today it has 4,500 people.

We toured the Eldheimar Museum which is built right in the lava flow. We also walked most of the island where the lava flowed including hiking up to the volcanic cone.

Below is a photo of a photo of the island of Heimaey. You can see the Eldfell Volcano and all the lava flows from it. You can also see the rest of the town with the harbor on the right side. Heimaey is the best fishing port in Iceland. The lava flows expanded the size of the island on the lower side.

Below is another photo of a photo in the museum. The church is still standing today and we visited it.

Below is another museum photo of a photo. Most of these houses are still here today and the residents have lots of stories to tell. We heard a few of their stories.

Vicky is hiking up the volcano's rim. She is in the center of the photo. You can see the remaining town down below. The harbor is on the right side.

This photo was taken from the same place as the prior photo, only in the opposite direction. Most of the land to the left of Vicky was newly created by the volcano. The land has not changed much in 43 years.