It has been over 3 years since the last eruption in Iceland. However, there are signs that an eruption might be in the works near remote Barðarbunga. The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) is reporting two major earthquake swarms that started up on the morning on August 16 and continue to roll into August 17. Right it seems that there are two separate earthquake swarms producing small earthquakes and has now eclipsed the May 2014 swarm in terms of number of earthquakes. There are no indications that an eruption has started at Barðarbunga, but some roads have been closed as a precaution because any eruption would likely produce a jökulhlaup (glacial outburst flood) as both swarms are occurring underneath Vatnajökull. This ice cap is also the home of the last Icelandic volcano to erupt, Grímvötn. There was some foreshadowing of that eruption before the explosive event, but many earthquake swarms in Iceland don't directly lead to an eruption. An overflight of the area performed today doesn't suggest much in the way of eruption either but the IMO has put Barðarbunga and the area around it on elevated alert. 
 
 UPDATE 9 AM EDT 8/16/14: The IMO has raised the alert status at Barðarbunga to orange after the continued and now shallowing earthquakes under the volcano. This suggests that magma is rising under the volcano, which means that the chances of eruption are increasing. The IMO doesn't say an eruption will happen – this could easily end as a shallow intrusion under Barðarbunga – but the heightened alert (2nd highest of the Icelandic scale) does allow for more preparation. 
 
 The last confirmed eruption from Barðarbunga was back in 1910 (Author's note: As Jon Frimann in the comments below correctly points out, this 1910 eruption was from Loki-Fögrufjöll, which is near Barðarbunga but not the same edifice. However, these two eruptions are likely linked to the same subvolcanic system. The last confirmed eruption from the Barðarbunga edifice was in 1794), although since then there have been numerous unconfirmed eruptions that may not have breached the surface of the ice cap under which the volcano resides. Complicating matters, the earthquake swarms are not occurring directly underneath Barðarbunga, but rather to the east. Now, this is also not unexpected in Iceland where fissure eruptions of basalt have occurred in places away from known volcanoes (such as Laki in 1783) and we don't have a great idea of exactly what lies underneath some of these massive ice caps. If the eruption is related to the Barðarbunga system, it could be interesting as the 1910 eruption was a mix of both basalt and rhyolite. Not only that, but Barðarbunga was the source of the Thjorsa lavas that erupted 25 cubic kilometers of basalt ~8,500 years ago - the largest basaltic eruption in the Holocene. There is no signs that would suggest that anything remotely close to this is in the works at Barðarbunga right now, but the volcano has quite a storied history of eruptions. 
 
 Curious how to pronounce Barðarbunga? Dave McGarvie (an Open University lecturer - if you want to know about Icelandic volcanism, follow him @subglacial) suggests "b-OW-r-tha-boon-ga" as the way to go. Special thanks to Dave for some of the information in this post and the excellent shot of the volcano. 

 Image copyright Icelandic Met Office Image caption Seismic activity has been detected at Bardarbunga, including a strong earthquake 
 
 The risk of an eruption at Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano has increased, with signs of "ongoing magma movement", Iceland's meteorological office says. 
 
 The risk level to the aviation industry has been raised to orange, the second-highest level, the met office said. 
 
 Any eruption could potentially lead to flooding or an emission of gas, the office added in a statement. 
 
 The Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted in 2010, producing an ash cloud that severely disrupted European airspace. 
 
 The Bardarbunga volcanic system is located under the north-west region of Iceland's Vatnajokull glacier. 
 
 'Strongest earthquake' 
 
 "Intense seismic activity" began at the volcano on 16 August, and there was a strong earthquake in the region early on Monday, the met office said. 
 
 "This is the strongest earthquake measured in the region since 1996. 
 
 "Presently there are no signs of eruption, but it cannot be excluded that the current activity will result in an explosive subglacial eruption, leading to an outburst flood and ash emission," the met office said, adding that the situation was being monitored. 
 
 The aviation colour codes are used to indicate the level of risk a volcano poses to air travel. 
 
 An orange alert indicates that a volcano is showing "escalating unrest with increased potential of eruption", or is erupting without any major volcanic ash emissions. 
 
 A red alert means that an eruption is "imminent", or is under way with "significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere". 
 
 The ash cloud produced by the 2010 Eyjafjallajokull eruption led to hundreds of thousands of passengers being affected by flight restrictions.
– Four years after Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano seriously disrupted aviation, another tongue-twister may be set to blow. Iceland's meteorological office says the area around the Bardarbunga volcano has experienced its strongest earthquake since 1996 and there is a chance the "current activity will result in an explosive subglacial eruption, leading to an outburst flood and ash emission," the BBC reports. The threat level for air traffic has been raised to orange, the second-highest level. Iceland says "intense seismic activity" began in the glacier-covered area on the weekend, with a swarm of more than 1,000 earthquakes. Roads in the area have been closed as a precaution against the glacial outburst flood likely to occur if there was an eruption, reports Wired, which notes that the volcano has a long history of eruptions: Its last confirmed eruption was in 1794, but around 8,600 years ago, it was the source of the largest lava flow in the modern geological epoch.