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Volcano erupts in Iceland, hundreds evacuated
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Mar 21, 5:15 AM (ET)
By GUDJON HELGASON
(AP) This frame grab from APTN shows the volcano near the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier, the fifth largest...
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REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) - Authorities evacuated hundreds of people after a volcano erupted beside a glacier in southern Iceland, Iceland's civil protection agency said Sunday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The eruption occurred around 11:30 p.m. Saturday (7:30 p.m. EDT) beside the Eyjafjallajokull glacier, the fifth largest in Iceland. Authorities initially said the eruption was below the glacier, triggering fears that it could lead to flooding from glacier melt, but scientists conducting an aerial survey in daylight located the eruption and said it did not occur below ice.
"The eruption is a small one," said Agust Gunnar Gylfason, a risk analyst at the Civil Protection Department.
"An eruption in and close to this glacier can be dangerous due to possible flooding if the fissure forms under the glacier," he said. "That is why we initiated our disaster response plan."
Scientists can see lava flows in the half-mile (1-kilometer) long fissure, and authorities are watching for further activity.
Authorities evacuated some 450 people in the area 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of the capital, Reykjavik, as a precaution, said Vidir Reynisson, the department manager for the Icelandic Civil Protection Department.
A state of emergency has been declared in communities near the 100-square-mile (259-square-kilometer) glacier, and three Red Cross centers were set up for evacuees in the village of Hella.
The Icelandic Civil Aviation Administration has ordered aircraft to stay 120 nautical miles away from the volcano area, essentially closing it off.
Three Icelandair flights from the U.S. - departing from Seattle; Boston; and Orlando, Florida - bound for Keflavik airport in Reykjavik were turned back to Boston, leaving about 500 people waiting, the airline said.
The flights were scheduled to depart for Iceland at 11:00 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) and arrive four and a half hours later, the airline said in a statement.
Flights to Stockholm, London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt were scheduled for 11:00 a.m. local time, but a flight to Oslo has been cancelled and passengers were being rerouted. The airline expected further delays throughout the day.
All domestic flights were also canceled until further notice, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service reported.
A European volcanic island in the North Atlantic, Iceland is largely an arctic desert with mountains, glaciers and volcanoes and agricultural areas in the lowlands close to the coastline.
The last time the volcano erupted was in the 1820s.
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