Last eruption af Krafla in 1984

Krafla is a caldera of about 10 km in diameter with a 90 km long fissure zone in the Mývatn region. Its highest peak reaches up to 818 m and it is 2 km in depth. There have been 29 reported eruptions in recorded history. Krafla includes one of the two best-known Víti craters of Iceland (the other is in Askja). The Icelandic word “víti” means “hell”. In former times, people often believed hell to be under volcanoes. The crater Víti has a green lake inside it.

The Mývatn fires occurred between 1724–29, when many of the fissure vents opened up. The lava fountains could be seen in the south of the island.

Between 1975 and 1984 there was a volcanic episode within the Krafla volcano. It involved nine volcanic eruptions and fifteen uplift and subsidence events. This interrupted some of the Krafla drillfields. During these events a large magma chamber emerged. This has been identified by analysing the seismic activity. Since 1977 the Krafla area has been the source of the geothermal energy used by a 60 MWe power station.