| One of the most destructive volcanic
eruptions in the history of Iceland began in the early morning of January 23,1973, near
the Nation's premier fishing port, the town of Vestmannaeyjar, on Heimaey, the only
inhabited isle in the Vestmannaeyjar volcanic archipelago.  Before the eruption was over, approximately one-third of
the town of Vestmannaeyjer had been obliterated.
But, more importantly, the potential
damage probably was reduced by the spraying of seawater onto the advancing lava f!ows,
causing them to be slowed, stopped, or diverted from the undamaged portion of the town.
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