Another volcano in Iceland could erupt as early as this week, prompting Iceland to issue an orange alert to airlines.
The area near Bardarbunga volcano has had the strongest earthquake since 1996.
An orange alert is the second highest on the Iceland Met Office’s Aviation Colour Code ash cloud warning system. It signals an “increased likelihood of eruption” and is one level below a red alert which warns of imminent eruption.
Fears are for a significant disruption in air travel if an ash cloud develops.
In 2010 Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano spewed ash into the skies, grounding 107,000 flights for eight days and interrupting travel for 10 million passengers.
The Icelandic Met Office said: “Presently there are no signs of eruption, but it cannot be excluded that the current activity will result in an explosive subglacial eruption, leading to an outburst flood and ash emission."
Its seismologist Martin Hensch said disruption from an ash cloud depends on the amount of ash, how high it would be thrown, and how fine-grained the texture. None of this, however, is possible to predict.
Many analysts believe that the testing of ash cloud density and safe levels for flying which has taken place in the interval means fewer flights will have to be cancelled should an eruption take place.
The 2010 eruption took the aviation industry by surprise because little research had been done on safe levels of ash for jet engines.
An eruption in Iceland in 2011 saw just 900 flights grounded, partly as a result of testing safety margins which had been researched.
