Beneath the Vatnajokull glacier lies the most active volcano in Iceland. Only hours ago, it has erupted again sparking renewed air traffic fears.

The latest Grímsvötn Volcano eruption is reported to be more powerful than its last in 2004. Its previous eruptions in the last 100 years were recorded in 1922, 1933, 1934, 1938, 1945, 1954, 1983, 1998 and 2004. According to a May 21, 2011 article in Ice News, Iceland volcano ‘not Eyjafjallajokull’, Saturday's eruption was expected by volcanologists this year.

Ash More Dense, Less Likely To Spread Far

The Icelandic Met Office website reported that ash is falling in the vicinity of the Vatnajokull glacier. This also includes towns of Hofn i Hornafirdi and Kirkjubaerklaustur as well as farmland nearby. The plume is up to 12 miles (20km) high, but the basalt eruption is meant to give the ash a density that will prevent a Eyjafjallajokull-style spreading.
Other effects associated with Grímsvötn is glacial flooding. As lava protrudes the Vatnajokull glacier and the ice is melted, water is produced.

Kermadec quake fails to raise a ripple

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake today struck near New Zealand's Kermacec islands, but scientists in the islands were unaware of the tremor.

There were no reports of damage or risk of tsunami, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

A spokeswoman for Auckland Museum said she had been in contact with a research group on the islands since the quake.

"They had to be informed by us that there had been an earthquake," she said.

The team of 19 people, which includes experts from the Department of Conservation, Te Papa, NIWA and Australian Museum, have recorded a number of new marine species during their trip.

Many of the research team were aboard a boat by Macauley Island, a small island in the Kermadec Islands group, when the 6.1 earthquake struck.

"Everybody was unaffected by it."

New Zealand's subtropical Kermadec Islands group lies 1000km north east of the North Island.

A small US religious group had predicted that Judgement Day would begin a day earlier, on Saturday, with an earthquake in New Zealand.

5 injured in Canoga Park crash

CANOGA PARK - Five people were injured today, one critically, in a traffic collision in Canoga Park, a city fire official said. 

The crash in the 21000 block of Saticoy Street was reported at 5:24 p.m., said Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department. 

"It was a two-car collision,'' Scott said. "One (person) is critically injured. The other four suffered non-life threatening injuries.'' 

Scott said all five people were taken to local hospitals. The cause of the crash was not immediately determined.