Iceland raises volcano aviation alert again

This is a Aug. 19, 2014 file image taken from video of a sign is posted on the road next to Bardarbunga, a subglacial stratovolcano located under Iceland’s largest glacier. Earthquakes are rocking Iceland’s Bardarbunga volcano, adding to concerns that magma movements may trigger an eruption that could hinder air traffic. Iceland’s Met Office says two earthquakes measuring over magnitude 5 shook the volcano under the vast Vatnajokull glacier on Wednesday Aug. 27 2014. Some 500 quakes have hit the area since midnight. (AP Photo/Courtesy Channel 2 Iceland, File) ICELAND OUT

REYKJAVIK, Iceland  — Iceland’s authorities have raised the aviation warning code for a region close to the subglacial Bardarbunga volcano after a small fissure eruption in the area.

The country’s meteorological agency described the eruption in the Holuhraun lava field, about five kilometers (three miles) north of the vast Dyngjujoekull glacier, as a “very calm lava eruption and can hardly be seen on seismometers.”

Sunday morning’s eruption was the third eruption in the area since Aug. 23. On Friday, a smaller eruption also prompted authorities to briefly raise the aviation warning code to restrict flights around the eruption site.

The Civil Protection Department said all airports remained open.

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