Popular News From Popular Sites: New fissure eruption at Iceland volcano prompts highest aviation warning

Sunday, August 31, 2014

New fissure eruption at Iceland volcano prompts highest aviation warning

Picture shows magma along a 1-km-long fissure in a lava field north of the Vatnajokull glacier, which covers part of Bardarbunga volcano system A new fissure eruption in an ice-free area of Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano system prompted authorities to raise their warning level for the risk of ash to aviation to the highest level of red on Sunday. Iceland's largest volcanic system, which cuts a 190 km long and up to 25 km wide (118 miles by 15.5 miles) swathe across the North Atlantic island, has been hit by thousands of earthquakes over the last two weeks and scientists have been on high alert. In 2010, an ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, in a different region of Iceland, closed much of Europe's air space for six days. "The Icelandic Met Office has raised the aviation color code to red for Bardarbunga/Holuhraun." Red is the highest level on a five-color scale and indicates that an eruption is imminent or under way, with a risk of spewing ash.




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