Alert Status Raised at Iceland's Hekla

Hekla in Iceland, seen in 2009. Image: World's Landscape / Wikimedia Commons. We can add another volcano to the list of restless volcanoes today -- Jon Frimann noted that Hekla in Iceland is showing some signs of potential activity. Seismic activity at the volcano has prompted the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police to declare an "uncertainty phase" for Hekla. That translates to the lowest (beyond no activity) level of warning for a restless Icelandic volcano. This change in status is the result of a tight cluster of very small earthquakes (none in the past few days, but you can check this link for updates) since March 10 on the northeast side of the summit ridge. These earthquakes are still relatively deep, occurring at 11-12 km below the volcano -- however, these earthquakes don't entirely suggest that new magma is intruding as they appear to reflect brittle fracture of rock ...