Icelandic volcano ready to erupt, and it could be a biggie

Iceland's Hekla volcano ready to erupt
Reykjavik - One of Iceland's most feared volcanoes looks ready to erupt, with measurements indicating magma movement, Icelandic experts said on Wednesday, raising fears of a new ash cloud halting flights over Europe.

The Hekla volcano is close to the ash-spewing Eyjafjoell, which last year caused the world's biggest airspace shut down since World War II, affecting more than 100 000 flights and eight million passengers.

The Iceland Civil Protection Authority told AFP it was closely monitoring the situation.

"The movements around Hekla have been unusual in the last two to three days," University of Iceland geophysicist Pall Einarsson told AFP.

While this might not necessarily mean an immediate blast, "the volcano is ready to erupt," he stressed.

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