Small Eruption Suspected at Iceland's Barðarbunga

The region around Bardarbunga seen from the slopes of Askja. Photo by Dave McGarvie, used by permission. Ruv.is is reporting that a small subglacial eruption has begun at Iceland's Barðarbunga after a week of seismic unrest. It appears that the eruption is occurring under about 500 meters (1640 feet) of ice. Airspace over the volcano has been closed with the alert raised to red and more evacuations are occurring apparently no evacuations are occurring. Here is the IMO statement on the eruption. There is very little in the way of details right now, but I will update as I find more information. Big take-home message so far is that the eruption appears to be small and under the ice. If/when it melts through the ice (which Dave McGarvie guesses might take a few hours), we might seem some explosive activity. However, right now, this is not a repeat of Eyjafjallajökull ...