On 23 January 1973 a 2 km long fissure opened up spewing out lava forming a new volcano, Eldfell. The lava flow threatened Heimaey town, on Heimaey in the Westman Islands off Iceland's south coast. The lava and ash buried and destroyed one third of the town and threatened the harbour, the life line for the islands. The whole island was evacuated. A novel technique of pumping sea water onto the lava front, solidified the flowing mass and diverted the lava flow away from the harbour. When the eruption ceased in June, Heimaey was 2km bigger. Recently an archaeological excavation has started to uncover houses that were buried by the volcanic ash 37 years ago.