Volcano erupts in Iceland, spurs 50 quakes
White plume shoots 18,000 feet above the glacier that sits over the volcano
breaking news
REYKJAVIK, Iceland— Iceland's most active
volcano erupted Saturday, with a white plume
shooting 18,000 feet into the air, scientists
said.
The eruption was followed by around 50 small
earthquakes, the largest of which measured
3.7 on the Richter Scale, according to Iceland's
meteorological office.
There was a similar eruption at the same
volcano in 2004.
Scientists don't believe this eruption will lead
to air travel chaos like that caused by ash from
the Eyjafjallajokul volcano in April 2010.
The Grimsvotn volcano is located underneath
the Vatnajokull glacier in southeast Iceland.
Sparsely populated Iceland is one of the
world's most volcanically active countries and
eruptions are frequent.
They often cause local flooding from melting
glacier ice, but rarely cause deaths.
Last year's Eyjafjallajokul eruption left millions
of air travelers stranded after winds pushed
the ash cloud toward some of the world's
busiest airspace and led most northern
European countries to ground all planes for
five days.
In November, melted glacial ice began pouring
from Grimsvotn, signaling a possible eruption.
That was a false alarm but scientists have been
monitoring the volcano closely ever since.
This is a breaking news story. Please check
back for updates.
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