October 18th, 1996
The eruption stopped on October 13th, since then there has been no eruptive activity. Although possible, there are at the moment no signs of renewed activity. The eruptive material has piled up to form a subglacial ridge, the highest part of this ridge is an eruptive crater that currently reaches few to tens of meters out of meltwater at the eruptive site. Cooling eruptive materials are still melting significant volumes of ice. There are indications that some water may be flowing towards north from the eruptive site, unusually much flow in one of the glacial rivers draining the northern part of Vatnajokull has been report, and there are indications of increased amounts of CO2 and H2S in the river water. However, as before most of the meltwater is still flowing towards the Grimsvotn caldera lake. The water level there is still increasing. GPS measurements indicate a water level of 1500 m on October 12th, 1504 m on October 15th, and 1505 m on October 17th. Glacier bursts, originating from the Grimsvotn lake, occur typically at much lower lake level of about 1450 m. The water level has never been measured as high as now, however, there are not yet any sign of the expected glacier burst.