Authorities in Iceland have evacuated areas surrounding the country’s largest glacier amid worries that Bardarbunga, a sub-glacial volcano there, will soon erupt.
Around 3,000 small earthquakes have been detected since Aug. 16, and unusual seismic activity continued into Wednesday. Iceland’s civil protection agency said a volcanic eruption “cannot be ruled out,” and evacuated about 300 people, most of them tourists.
The Bardarbunga volcanic system is the largest in Iceland, and is located more than 190 miles from the capital of Reykjavik.
In 2010, the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted in Iceland, causing more than 100,000 flights to be cancelled, and costing commercial airlines an estimated $1.7 billion in revenue loss. Although officials do not anticipate the effects of this volcano to be that severe, they said it may disrupt flights.
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