Bardarbunga volcano, Iceland update and live webcam

Bardarbunga volcano, Iceland update and live webcam. (VolcanoDiscovery).

The still intense earthquake swarm and deformation continues with little variation. No further eruptive activity has occurred since yesterday's "blitz" eruption.

The intrusion has not changed position and is focused on a 15 km long stretch both under and outside the Dyngjujökull glacier NE of Bardarbunga. Earthquake activity also continues under the volcano's caldera with the strongest today so far being a magnitude 5.4 event this morning.

Summary of the eruption from the Icelandic Met Office:

"- At 00:02 UTC signs of a lava eruption were detected on web camera images from Mila. The web-camera is located at Vaðalda, north-east of the eruption site.

- Around midnight, weak signs of increased tremor were apparent on IMO's seismic stations near to the eruption site. At 00:20 UTC scientists in the field from the Icelandic Met Office, Institute of Earth Sciences and Cambridge University confirmed the location of the eruption.

- The eruption occurred on an old volcanic fissure on the Holuhraun lava field, about 5 km north of the Dyngjujökull ice margin. The active fissure was about 600 m in length.

A small amount of lava drained from the fissure and by around 04:00 UTC, lava flow is thought to have stopped.

- According to seismic data and web-camera imagery, the eruption peaked between 00:40 and 01:00 UTC.

- At the beginning of the eruption, seismic activity decreased, although seismicity has since returned to levels observed in recent days.

- Aerial observations by the Icelandic Coastguard show that only steam is rising from the site of the lava eruption.

- There are no indications that the intensity of the activity declining.

At this moment it is unclear how the situation will develop. However, three scenarios are considered most likely:

1 The migration of magma could stop, resulting in a gradual reduction in seismic activity and no further eruptions.

2 The dike could reach the Earth's surface north of Dyngjujökull causing another eruption, possibly on a new fissure. Such an eruption could include lava flow and (or) explosive activity.

3 The intrusion reaches the surface and an eruption occurs again where either the fissure is partly or entirely beneath Dyngjujökull. This would most likely produce a flood in Jökulsá á Fjöllum and perhaps explosive, ash-producing activity.

Other scenarios cannot be excluded. For example, an eruption inside the Bárdarbunga caldera."