Iceland economy hit by volcano

Activity at Iceland's erupting volcano remained relatively stable on Tuesday, with blasts seen from three separate craters, but the plume of ash that has wreaked havoc for air traffic in Europe had diminished, police said."The volcano has been relatively calm this night and activity in the Eyjafjallajokull glacier has not changed," Icelandic police said in a statement.The Icelandic Coast Guard had flown with experts to the volcano Monday afternoon to monitor the eruption.

A group of Icelandic chefs this week offered customers a unique gastronomical experience: a gourmet meal cooked over hot lava and served near an ongoing volcanic eruption, one of the chefs said Wednesday."My philosophy is that if someone says that something is impossible, I feel the urge to try it," Fridgeir Eiriksson told AFP.When Eiriksson heard about the eruption at the Fimmvorduhals volcano in the middle of the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in southern Iceland on March 21, he began planning to "cook a delicious dinner at the volcano."

Up to 800 people were evacuated in Iceland early Wednesday because of a volcano eruption risk at the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in the south of the island, a police spokesman said."Between 700 and 800 people were evacuated from their homes because of the risk of an eruption in Eyjafjallajokull and because there were a lot of earthquakes in the area," Baldur Sigurdsson told AFP."All roads are closed and a helicopter has just left to see if there was an eruption," he added.

Icelandic authorities warned on Monday of increased disturbance in the area of the volcanic eruption that forced more than 600 people to flee their homes on Sunday."Police have increased surveillance in the whole area around the Eyjafjallajokull and Myrdalsjokull glaciers because of increased disturbance this morning in the volcanic eruption," the police and civil protection department said in a statement.Police warned there could be danger in travelling or driving in the vicinity of the volcanic area and closed some of the area's roads.

ETF Database submits: The airline industry encountered some unexpected turbulence this past week when an eruption beneath Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano began spewing ash and dust into the atmosphere. The eruption has continued since then, grounding air travel across much of Western and Northern Europe.