Iceland's Meteorological Office confirmed that a 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit the Bardarbunga volcano, but it is not likely an indicator of an eruption.
According to Reuters, the Met Office said the tremor was the biggest since they began 10 days ago. Tremors and other seismic activity in the region have caused some concern that the volcano may be growing closer to erupting.
"There was one event during the night ... it was a magnitude 5.7 (quake), the largest in this series," Palmi Erlendsson, a geologist at the Met Office said in a statement obtained by Reuters. "Activity is still deep and we see no signs of anything close to the surface."
Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted in 2010 and spewed ash and dust into the air, disrupting more than 100,000 flights across Europe for a week. Over the weekend, the Met Office raised its air travel industry's warning level from orange to red, then brought it back to orange.
The top of a five-point warning scale, red means an eruption is imminent.
A new study from the University of Cambridge suggests magma from the Bardarbunga volcano is moving toward another volcanic system, which could be catastrophic. A researcher on the study, Bob White told BBC News 50 cubic meters of molten rock is headed on a northward trajectory "straight for" the Askja volcanic system.
"It's moving at about 4km a day towards Askja, and if it keeps going it will get there in a few days," the Cambridge professor told BBC News. "We know there is a lot of molten rock sitting under the ground beneath Askja, which is a major volcanic system. If this molten rock hits that, we know it is likely to trigger it to erupt.
"But who knows, it may just stop. It is still at 5km-depth, and it is possible it could freeze there and not a lot more will happen. That is perfectly plausible."
