Iceland volcano threatens ash cloud bigger than Eyjafjallajokull

Scientists in Iceland are warning that another volcano looks set to erupt and spew out an ash cloud that would dwarf the eruption last year of Eyjafjallajokull.

The Bardarbunga volcano is reportedly much larger than Eyjafjallajokull, which shut down air travel across most of Europe in 2010 when its ash cloud drifted across the continent.

Geologists say an increased swarm of earthquakes around the Bardarbunga volcano tell them there is "no doubt" lava is rising, increasing the risk of an eruption, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported.

Pall Einarsson, a professor of geophysics at the University of Iceland, told the country's national TV station that the signs of increased activity provided a "good reason to worry," though the lack of seismometer measuring devices in the area was making it more difficult to determine the scale and likely outcome of the earthquakes.

But, he said, sustained earthquake tremors to the northeast of the remote volcano range were the strongest recorded in recent times and there was "no doubt" the lava was rising.

Respected volcano watcher Jon Frimann, said on his volcano watch blog: "After the Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption in the year 2010 it seems that geologists in Iceland take earthquake swarms more seriously then they did before."

The last recorded eruption of Bardarbunga was in 1910, although volcanologists believe its last major eruption occurred in 1477 when it produced a large ash and pumice fallout. It also produced the largest known lava flow during the past 10,000 years on earth.

It is the second largest volcano on Iceland and is directly above a mantle plume of molten rock.