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Iceland issues Bardarbunga volcano red alert | Iceland issues Bardarbunga volcano red alert |
(35 minutes later) | |
Iceland has issued a red alert to the aviation industry for the Bardarbunga volcano, meaning significant ash emissions are likely. | Iceland has issued a red alert to the aviation industry for the Bardarbunga volcano, meaning significant ash emissions are likely. |
The Icelandic Met Office has warned that a small sub-glacial eruption is under way at Bardarbunga. | |
On Wednesday, authorities evacuated an area close to the volcano over fears it could erupt. | On Wednesday, authorities evacuated an area close to the volcano over fears it could erupt. |
Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted in 2010, producing an ash cloud that severely disrupted air travel. | Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted in 2010, producing an ash cloud that severely disrupted air travel. |
The red alert is the highest warning on the country's five-point scale. | |
Bardarbunga is part of a large volcano system hidden beneath the 500-metre (0.31-mile) thick Vatnajokull glacier in central Iceland. | |
Authorities have previously warned that any eruption in the volcano, which sits under an ice cap, could result in flooding of the area north of the glacier. | |
Wednesday's evacuation of several hundred people from the area came after geologists said about 300 earthquakes had been detected in the area since midnight on Tuesday. | |
The region, located more than 300km (190 miles) from the capital Reykjavik, has no permanent residents but sits within a national park popular with tourists. | |
The Eyjafjallajokull eruption in April 2010 caused the largest closure of European airspace since World War Two, with losses estimated at between 1.5bn and 2.5bn euros (£1.3-2.2bn). | |
Criticism following the strictly enforced shutdown resulted in the UK's Civil Aviation Authority relaxing its rules to allow planes to fly in areas with a low density of volcanic ash. |