The 1970 eruption of Hekla started at 9:23 pm on 5 May 1970 and lasted until 5 July. It had a VEI of 3 and produced 0.2 km³ of lava covering an area of 18.5 km² and 6.6×10 7 m³ of tephra, deposited over an area of 40,000 km², mainly to the northwest of the volcano.