The ash plume rising from the Grímsvötn eruption under Vatnajökull glacier has reached a height of 50 thousand feet, according to Icelandic National Broadcasting Service RÚV. It can now reportedly be seen from Reykjavík.
According to protocol, Vísir reports that flights have been banned within a 120 nautical mile radius of the eruption while conditions are evaluated. Some domestic flights have thus been rerouted.
Isavia PR Agent Hördís Guðmundsdóttir said the eruption has not affected international flights in and out of Keflavík, though routes may be shifted further south.
“There is good reason to consider all possibilities when Grímvötn erupts as it is a powerful volcano despite the fact that the last eruption was quite benign,” geologist at the University of Iceland Institute of Earth Sciences Páll Einarsson told Vísir.
“It is still unclear what kind of eruption this is, as it has only been seen from a distance [as of 20:20] and it is difficult to say how it will end up looking, but the last three eruptions were quite similar. They were small and originated south of Askja, so it is unlikely that this will be a big eruption.”
Road number one in the Skeiðarásandur area has been closed. Flooding as a result of melted ice is expected.
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