Strong quakes shake Icelandic volcano

Two strong earthquakes on Sunday shook Iceland's largest volcano, which is on orange alert lowered from red one for one day amid fears of an imminent eruption, the Icelandic Met Office said.

A large explosion at the Bardarbunga volcano could signal a replay of the global travel chaos caused by the eruption of another Icelandic peak four years ago, which created a massive ash cloud across Europe.

The earthquakes were listed on the Met Office's website with intensities of 5.3 and 5.1 on the Richter scale, which makes them the strongest recorded in the region since the current seismic cycle began last week.

On Saturday, Iceland raised its alert over the Bardarbunga volcano to the highest level and closed airspace in the area, but all of Iceland's airports remained open.

Met Office official Gunnar Gudmundsson told Icelandic public broadcaster RUV that it was difficult to say whether the earthquakes indicated an increased risk of an eruption.

Police said some 300 people had been evacuated in a popular tourist area located north of the Bardarbunga volcano, which lies in southeast Iceland.

"This is quite an extensive evacuation, but it is only in the canyons themselves, not in the inhabited area," Husavi chief of police Svavar Palsson told local media.

"Most of the people were foreign tourists."

The authorities said they had decided not to evacuate residents of nearby areas, but encouraged them to be alert and have their mobile phones switched on at all times.

Police said that the ice layer in the area was between 150 and 400 meters thick.

• Local authorities fear floods from melting ice could cause serious damage to the country's infrastructure.

Seismologists had recorded an earthquake of 4.5 on the Richter scale on Monday, when Iceland decided to raise its aviation alert to orange, the second-highest level of five.

The eruption of Eyjafjoell, a smaller volcano, in April 2010 caused travel mayhem, stranding more than 8 million people in the widest airspace shutdown since World War II.

"There's nothing we can do if we get another big eruption like that of Eyjafjoell except to interrupt air traffic in the dangerous areas," Icelandic Civil Aviation Administration spokesman Fridthor Eydal was quoted as saying earlier this week.

"It's really the only thing we can do," he said.

Iceland's most active sub-glacial volcano Grimsvotn erupted in 2011, forcing the country to temporarily shut its airspace and sparking fears of a repeat of the Eyjafjoell flight chaos.

Iceland is home to more than 100 volcanic mountains, some of which are among the most active in the world.
Sources: AFP - globaltimes.cn
24/8/14
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Related:

• Iceland issues aviation alert on volcano activity (M 4.7 - ICELAND - 2014-08-23 18:33:06 UTC.....local time: 18:33)

• Iceland lowers aviation alert from Bardarbunga volcano...

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