Dormant volcano erupts 'near' glacier in Iceland

Dormant volcano erupts 'near' glacier in Iceland 

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes in southern Iceland after a volcano dormant for almost 200 years erupted.

The eruptions began shortly before midnight on Saturday near the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier, triggering fears of flooding when several craters along a popular rift began spewing lava and smoke.

Some 450 people have so far been evacuated from an area southeast the capital, Reykjavik, and the country's aviation authority canceled all domestic flights and discouraged other aircraft from flying close to the area of the volcano.

Authorities initially feared that the eruption was below the 160km glacier, which is the country's fifth largest ice mass and a state of emergency was immediately declared.

Geologists at the University of Iceland, however, told the national broadcaster, RUV, that aerial survey of the area seemed to indicate that the eruption had not occurred below the ice.

The ice-capped volcano last erupted in the 1820s. 

http://cheesecakerecipemadeeasy.blogspot.com/