- Eruption this morning happened in roughly the same place as one on Friday
- Authorities said lava fountains about 165ft high erupted from the fissure
- The red warning code means no flights are allowed in an area of about 40 square nautical miles north of the area, up to 6,000 feet from the ground
- But aviation officials said the restrictions do not affect commercial flights
Iceland's
authorities have raised the aviation warning code for a region close to
the sub-glacial Bardarbunga volcano after a small fissure eruption in
the area.
No volcanic ash has been detected, however, and the Civil Protection Department said all Icelandic airports remained open.
The
country's meteorological agency said scientists were monitoring the
eruption in the Holuhraun lava field, about three miles north of the
Dyngjujoekull glacier.
Iceland's authorities have raised the aviation warning code for a region close to the Bardarbunga volcano
Lava fountations of about 165ft high erupted from the fissure today, estimated to be almost a mile long
'Visual observation confirms it is calm, but continuous,' the weather agency said on its website.
This
morning's eruption followed a smaller one in the same site on Friday
that also prompted authorities to briefly raise the aviation warning
code to restrict flights in the area.
Thousands of small earthquakes have rocked the region in recent days, leading to concerns that the main volcano may erupt.
Today's eruption was more powerful
than the one on Friday (pictured) - thousands of small earthquakes have
rocked the region in recent days, leading to concerns that the main
volcano may erupt
The fissure eruption (pictured from
Friday) appeared about 28 miles from the main Bardarbunga volcano, which
lies under the vast Vatnajokull glacier that dominates the eastern
corner of Iceland
Though remote and sparsely populated,
the area is popular with hikers in the summer and officials earlier
evacuated all tourists in the region after intense seismic activity
there
The
red warning code - the highest in the country's alert system - meant
that no flights are allowed in an airspace area of about 40 square
nautical miles north of the fissure eruption area, up to 6,000 feet (1.1
miles) from the ground.
Aviation officials said the restrictions do not affect commercial flights, which fly much higher than that.
Authorities said lava fountains of about 165ft (50m) high erupted from the fissure, estimated to be almost a mile long.
Today's volcano happened in roughly
the same place as an earlier eruption on Friday morning (pictured), and
is the third to happen in the area in the last week
The
fissure eruption appeared about 28 miles from the main Bardarbunga
volcano, which lies under the vast Vatnajokull glacier that dominates
the eastern corner of Iceland.
Though
remote and sparsely populated, the area is popular with hikers in the
summer. Officials earlier evacuated all tourists in the region after
intense seismic activity there.
Although
today's fissure eruption was more powerful than the one on Friday,
experts say the situation is contained and is unlikely to result in the
same level of aviation chaos as 2010.
In
that year, a dust cloud shut down much of Europe’s airspace for six
days, affecting more than ten million people and costing £1.1billion.
Passengers were stranded as 100,000 flights were cancelled during the
Easter holidays.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2739194/Red-alert-Iceland-volcano-Authorities-issue-aviation-warning-small-eruption-28-miles-Bardarbunga.html#ixzz3C5iTuI9K
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