Police are asking people hiking Hekla to bring their mobile phones so that they can be forewarned in the event of an imminent volcanic eruption, reports Vísir.
It is believed that an eruption is impending and may happen on short notice. The volcano is under police surveillance and seismic activity is being monitored.
Geologists have been preparing for Hekla to erupt since 2006 when significant ground deformation was detected around the volcano. Swelling of the volcano signals that magma has accumulated near the surface.
In 2006 the swelling of the volcano was larger than before the last eruption in 2000. However, Hekla did not erupt and in the past eight years the swelling has instead been steadily increasing.
Hekla last erupted with only an hour’s notice. Police do not think it is necessary to ban hikers from hiking Hekla, instead they ask hikers bring their mobile phones so that they can be warned to evacuate should the need arise.
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