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The volcano on La Palma, which is part of the volcanic Canary Islands off northwest Africa and is home to about 85,000 people, erupted on Sept. 19. The prompt evacuations of more than 6,000 people helped avoid casualties. Life on the rest of La Palma, which is roughly 35 kilometers (22 miles) long and 20 kilometers (12 miles) wide at its broadest point, has been largely unaffected. "We're not in a state of total alarm," the technical director of the volcano emergency response unit, Miguel Ángel Morcuende, told a news conference. "Life on the island is continuing, though those close...

'Run, it's coming. Let's go!' Dramatic moment truck is swallowed by an ash cloud as villagers flee '1300 Fahrenheit pyroclastic flows' from Guatemala's Volcano of Fire which has killed at least 69 Death toll from eruption of Guatemala's Volcano of Fire has risen to 69 and is expected to climb further today Crews digging through debris on smouldering terrain after volcano exploded in a hail of ash and molten rock 'Pyroclastic flows' of boiling ash, rock and water engulfed homes with temperatures climbing to 1,300F In places it was still too hot to pull out bodies so thickly coated with...

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Any other FReepers (besides my chatroom friend in Frankfurt)stuck in Europe? Germany? Zurich? I think we have the makings of a Continental Tea Party Gathering. Perhaps we could charter a flight home? Sounds like the US is a bit less concerned about this ash cloud than the European governments here. An interesting group in the breakfast room at our hotel this am, tho -- a man who was stranded in Vienna, who researched for 2 days and decided that Zurich was the place to be (why? the airport is like a ghost town); one man who had just gotten in...

Holy Cow, Look What Happened When Eyjafjallajökull Erupted In 1812 Gregory White Apr. 16, 2010, 10:18 AM The last time Eyjafjallajökull blew its top the eruption lasted for two years, spreading smoke and ash over Iceland causing significant damage. * The last time Eyjafjallajökull erupted, it lasted 2 years stretching from 1821-1823. It also erupted in 920 and 1612. * The 1821 eruption spread fluoride across iceland, damaging livestock and human well-being. Glacial flooding also resulted from the eruption. * Eyjafjallajökull's eruption usually precedes an eruption for another Icelandic volcano called Katla, as it did in 1823. Katla's eruptions are...