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The land of fire and ice: A guide to volcanoes in Iceland

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20. Jun 202520. Jun 25

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6 min

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Iceland’s landscape is like no other. Alongside the icy glaciers, serene fjords, and stunning black beaches, the country is also home to some of the world’s most active volcanoes.

These geological marvels have defined Iceland’s scenery, history, and culture, impacting the land and the people for centuries. The fascinating mix of active and dormant volcanoes also draws visitors from around the globe, offering the unique chance to look into Iceland’s past and learn more about what shaped the country we know today.

Want to know more about these natural wonders? We’ve put together a handy guide covering key topics and facts about Iceland’s volcanic history.

From the number of volcanoes in Iceland to which ones are worth a visit, here’s everything you need to know about these emblematic natural wonders.

How many volcanoes are there in Iceland?

Across Iceland, there are around 130 volcanoes, ranging in size and formation. The majority of Iceland’s volcanoes are dormant – meaning they’ve not erupted for a long time – but 32 are considered active volcano systems, meaning they’ve erupted relatively recently and are likely to erupt again.

Note that some of the 32 volcanic systems that belong to the active volcanic zones of Iceland last erupted thousands of years ago. You can find all the details in the comprehensive online Catalogue of Icelandic Volcanoes.

Thankfully, Iceland is very prepared for potential eruptions, it’s in our DNA! The country’s incredible nature has given us excellent training and expertise to deal with unique situations.

Rest assured: Active volcanic systems are closely monitored by experts for any changes, and there are evacuation and safety procedures in place for if/when they start showing signs of increased volcanic activity.

What types of volcanoes are there in Iceland?

Iceland is home to different kinds of volcanoes, each with their own unique appearance and formation.

Most of the country’s volcanoes are stratovolcanoes, which are stereotypical cone-shaped formations, usually with a crater in the middle. Iceland also has plenty of shield volcanoes, characterized by their much flatter, dome-like shape built up by successive eruptions. To understand more about types of volcanoes and how they’re formed, there are excellent resources online.

In Iceland, many of the volcanoes are covered by glaciers (making them subglacial or glaciovolcanoes) like Grímsvötn, hidden underneath the stunning Vatnajökull ice cap (along with a handful of other sub-Vatnajökull volcanoes), and Eyjafjallajökull, under the glacier of the same name.

(A hint: if the volcano name ends in -jökull, it’s likely subglacial. The word jökull means glacier in Icelandic. However, not all subglacial volcanoes in Iceland have such a name: Katla volcano is underneath Myrdalsjökull glacier.)

Iceland also experiences fissure eruptions – when lava erupts from a kind of elongated fracture or crack in the Earth’s crust. The famous Laki eruption in 1783 is an example of one of these fissures in action; the current volcanic activity on the Reykjanes peninsula is made up of fissure eruptions.

Here are a few handy Icelandic words, to help you make sense of some place names:

  • dalur – valley
  • eldfjall – volcano (literally ‘fire mountain’)
  • eldgos – eruption
  • fell or fjall – mountain
  • hellir – cave
  • hraun – lava or lava field
  • hverir – hot springs or geothermal field
  • jökull – ice cap or glacier
  • vatn – lake

Why does Iceland have so many volcanoes?

Iceland experiences major volcanic activity because of where it’s located. The island sits between two tectonic plates, the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate. These tectonic plates are moving slabs of rock that make up the Earth’s crust, and as they move apart, magma – hot, semi-liquid rock that sits under the Earth’s surface – rises to fill the gap. As the magma builds up, things get hotter and the pressure increases so much that the Earth’s crust opens, creating a volcano.

Because Iceland sits right above the point where the tectonic plates are moving away from each other, also known as diverging, this process has happened a lot, leading to the formation of over 100 volcanoes in Iceland.

The boundary where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates meet and move apart from each other is known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which you can see on the map. The ridge corresponds to the location of most of Iceland’s active volcanic systems.

Visitors can see clear evidence of the ridge at the Bridge Between Continents on the Reykjanes peninsula, and at Þingvellir National Park.

How often do Iceland’s volcanoes erupt?

Predicting if and when a volcano is going to erupt is no easy task. Scientists can check how much magma is building up below the rock formations, as well as the heat and the pressure, but it’s tricky to pinpoint exactly when a volcano is going to blow.

For this reason, it’s also hard to say how often volcanoes erupt in Iceland. On average, volcanic activity happens every five years or so, but this can range from imperceptible activity under glaciers to full-on eruptions.

Take a look at our dedicated page for up-to-date information on Iceland’s most recent volcanic eruptions, which have occurred on the Reykjanes peninsula after 800 years of inactivity.

What are Iceland’s most famous volcanic eruptions?

The volcanic eruptions of the past have truly shaped Iceland’s present. From devastation to travel disruption, here are some of the most significant volcanic events from Icelandic history:

One of Iceland’s most impactful volcanic events, the 1362 eruption of Öræfajökull happened just a few centuries after the Norse people first settled in Iceland. The outcome was mass destruction of new settlements and loss of life, leading to the surrounding area becoming known as ‘wilderness’ or ‘wasteland’ (Öræfi). Today, Öræfajökull is still the largest active volcano in Iceland, resting under Vatnajökull glacier.

Erupting over the course of eight months between 1783 and 1784, the Laki fissure spat out lava and poisonous sulfur dioxide and hydrofluoric acid with devastating effects. One of the most famous – and worst – eruptions in Iceland’s recent volcanic history, this event wiped out livestock and crops, leading to a terrible famine and the death of around 20% of the population. In fact, the Laki eruption may even have contributed to the onset of the French Revolution, due to destruction of crops and livestock in Europe caused by the Laki dust cloud.

In 1875, the Askja volcano, located in the remote central highlands, experienced an explosive eruption, producing huge amounts of ash. The ash had a tremendous impact on agriculture in the country and with crops dying and food running out, many Icelanders chose to emigrate to North America in search of better living conditions – the biggest emigration in Icelandic history.

Another way that volcanoes impact Iceland’s history is their ability to increase the landmass of the island and even create new islands.

In 1918, the subglacial Katla volcano – one of the largest volcanoes in Iceland – erupted with such force that the resulting laharic flood deposits (made up of mud and debris from the eruption) extended Iceland’s southern coast by about 3 miles (~5km).

Something similar happened in 1973 when Eldfell erupted in Heimaey, part of the Vestmannaeyjar (Westman) Islands. The lava flow and ashfall destroyed 400 buildings in its wake and added another mile (~2km) to the island’s land area. The fissure could have led to far more damage, but thanks to preparation, almost all of the island’s 5,000 residents were evacuated in time.

Ten years earlier, another eruption in the area led to the creation of a new island in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, Surtsey. This island was formed by one of longest volcanic eruptions in Iceland, lasting from November 1963 to June 1967. Today, Surtsey is a Unesco protected site on the World Heritage List. It’s considered a laboratory: because it’s been protected since its formation, it provides the world with a pristine natural laboratory. Free from human interference, Surtsey has been producing unique long-term information on the colonization process of new land by plant and animal life.

An example of how a volcanic eruption in Iceland can have a global impact, Eyjafjallajökull erupted for around a month in the spring of 2010. Because the volcano sits under an ice cap, the eruption led to a massive ash cloud which caused flight disruption throughout Europe. Despite the travel chaos and some homes and roads being damaged, Iceland was well prepared and there were no casualties.

In 2011, one of Iceland’s most active volcanoes, Grímsvötn, released a huge ash plume, just like Eyjafjallajökull the year before. As people learnt lessons from the recent ash cloud, Grímsvötn caused less disruption (though it put out more ash than Eyjafjallajökull in a shorter amount of time).

In 2014, a fissure eruption began at Bárðarbunga, in the remote central highlands area of Iceland. The Bárðarbunga volcanic system is Iceland’s largest, and it’s primarily situated under the Vatnajökull ice cap. The 2014 eruption occurred just north of the glacier, and lasted six months. It created the largest lava flow field in Iceland since the 18th-century Laki eruption.

In recent years, several eruptions have occurred on the Reykjanes peninsula, starting with Fagradalsfjall in 2021. Nowadays, Iceland is very prepared for this kind of activity and while these eruptions can look quite dramatic, the scale of destruction or disruption is far less than before.

For more information, check out our page where we post regular updates on the most recent eruptions and volcanic activity.

Where are the volcanoes in Iceland?

Volcanoes can be found across the island, with most of them located in the Westfjords. In fact, around 100 of Iceland’s volcanoes can be found here, but, since the Westfjords are part of Iceland’s oldest landmass, all the volcanoes here are dormant.

The remaining 32 active volcanic systems in Iceland are spread out across the rest of the country, with most running from the southwest to the northeast of the island, in the vicinity of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

To help you get an idea of the layout, check out the comprehensive and interactive Catalogue of Icelandic Volcanoes. It details the volcanic systems currently being monitored in Iceland by the authorities, with plenty of information for those who’d like to dig deeper (from classification of activity level to eruption histories, and more).

Best volcanoes and volcano-related attractions to visit in Iceland

The best way to find out more about Iceland’s volcanoes is to go and see them for yourself! With plenty of hiking routes and lava fields to explore, you can get up close and personal with volcanoes across Iceland. Plus, there are lots of interesting exhibitions and museums that help bring these geological wonders to life.

Here we give our top picks for the best volcanic attractions around Iceland, plus a map that covers volcanoes and volcano-related wonders – from long-dormant craters to lava tunnels and fascinating evidence of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It also includes the many fantastic exhibitions that help give context to the geological turmoil that‘s a part of Icelandic life.

Volcanoes and geothermal sites in Iceland

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