Global General

Icelandic volcano quieting down: expert

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-25 22:41

STOCKHOLM - The Icelandic volcano eruption is quieting down after causing chaos for air travelers by grounding about 1,000 flights in Europe, a local expert said Wednesday.

"If this behaves like a normal eruption at Grimsvotn, it is on its last (phase)," local media quoted Armann Hoskuldsson, a volcanologist with the University of Iceland, as saying.

The eruption, which started on Saturday, appeared to be dying out, he said.

A group of experts are now flying over the Vatnajokull glacier, underneath which the Grimsvotn volcano sits, to assess the volcano's current status. They are expected back in Reykjavik later on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, travelers at the volcano's crater reported only steam coming off the island nation's most active volcano.

"What we witnessed is that it was basically over. There were just puffs of steam being emitted and not much more than that. No lava could be seen and no ash, except for the ash that was all around the crater," Asberg Jonsson, one of the travelers, was quoted as saying by Iceland Review.

Earlier reports said the ash plume from the Grimsvotn eruption had dropped from 24 kilometers at its peak to three or five kilometers Tuesday.

Although the eruption was much stronger than the one at a volcano further south in 2010, the resulting ash cloud's content was heavier and less likely to spread, causing much less chaos than last year when more than 10 million people were hit by a six-day European airspace shutdown.

So far, the most high-profile victim of the volcano eruption was the US President Barack Obama, who left Ireland for Britain one day ahead of schedule on Monday for safety concerns.

Volcano ash contains tiny particles of glass and pulverized rock that can damage engines and airframes.