Iceland issues red alert after new eruption near volcano

Iceland on Sunday raised its aviation alert over its largest volcano to the highest level of red after a new eruption nearby.

The alert entails a ban on all flights below 6,000 feet (1.8 kilometers) within a radius of 10 nautical miles (18.5 kilometer) of Bardarbunga.

"All airports are open. The area has no effect on any airports," the Civil Protection Office said in a statement.

Sunday was the third time in a week that Iceland issued a red alert for aviation due to seismic activity near Bardarbunga.

The latest eruption happened roughly in the same area of another eruption on Friday, the authorities said. Bardarbunga, in the southeast of the country, is Iceland's second-highest peak.

A major explosion at Bardarbunga, located under Europe's largest glacier, could signal a replay of the global travel chaos triggered when another Icelandic peak blew four years ago, unleashing a massive ash cloud across Europe.
Source: AFP - globaltimes.cn
31/8/14 (1/9/14)
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Related:

• Strong quakes shake Icelandic volcano 

• 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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• M 5.0 - ICELAND - 2014-08-31 12:01:47 UTC

Magnitude    mb 5.0
Region    ICELAND
Date time    2014-08-31 12:01:47.6 UTC
Location    64.71 N ; 17.44 W
Depth    2 km
Distances

    224 km E of Reykjavík, Iceland / pop: 113,906 / local time: 12:01:47.6 2014-08-31
113 km S of Akureyri / pop: 16,563 / local time: 12:01:00.0 2014-08-31 

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• M 4.6 - ICELAND - 2014-08-31 16:12:36 UTC

Magnitude    Mw 4.6
Region    ICELAND
Date time    2014-08-31 16:12:36.5 UTC
Location    64.78 N ; 17.27 W
Depth 

   15 km
Distances    234 km E of Reykjavík, Iceland / pop: 113,906 / local time: 16:12:36.5 2014-08-31
108 km S of Akureyri / pop: 16,563 / local time: 16:12:00.0 2014-08-31 

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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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