Iceland raises volcano alert to red after eruption
Iceland’s Meteorological Institute has raised the alert warning for the country’s largest volcano. The institute raised the warning code Friday to red, the highest level, after a small eruption of the Bardarbunga volcano overnight.
Icelandic aviation officials have also closed down the airspace around the volcano. However, the civil protection office said in a statement that no volcanic ash has been detected.
Ash from the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano in 2010 shut down much of Europe’s airspace for six days. The eruption, a little over 100 kilometers from the capital, Reykjavik, affected more than 10 million air travelers and cost $1.7 billion.
Last week Icelandic officials raised the risk level to the aviation industry for an eruption to orange, which is the fourth level of a five-grade scale. That alert was lifted the next day.
Source: VOANews.com
(Photo of Bardarbunga volcano, taken on August 25 2014, by Sparkle Motion/flickr.com)
