Volcano eruption melts glacier
ICELAND'S second volcano eruption in less than a month melted part of a glacier and caused heavy flooding today, forcing up to 800 people to evacuate, but no casualties were reported. "We have two heavy floods coming out from the melting of the Eyjafjallajokull glacier," local police spokesman Roegnvaldur Olafsson said from near the site of the eruption in the south of the country. So far, "no lives are in danger but we have evacuated the area and all roads are closed", he said, adding that the ongoing eruption was bigger than the blast at the nearby Fimmvorduhals volcano last month. Police said today that following the eruption, which began around 11am AEST yesterday, between 700 and 800 people had been evacuated from their homes in the remote, lightly populated area 125 kilometres east of Reykjavik. "There were a lot of earthquakes in the area," police spokesman Baldur Sigurdsson said. CBC.ca: Iceland volcano eruption forces evacuation. BBC: Volcano ash alert from Iceland hits UK flights. Míla: Eyjafjallajökull frá Valahnúk -WEBCAM. Plume model HERE. Aftenposten: Animated ash plume model predictions from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, through to Saturday 17th April 2010, 02:00.
