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A "swarm" of over 20,000 earthquakes has rocked Iceland in the past 10 days — and it could spark a volcanic eruption links to this tweet by Almannavarnadeild ríkislögreglustjóra; The National Commissioner Of The Icelandic Police, Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management:

Earlier today a tremor pulse was detected south of Mt Keilir, in the Reykjanes Peninsula, SW Iceland. No eruption has yet been detected but due to risks related to volcanic activity, all traffic near Keilir and Mt Fagradalsfjall is prohibited, including drone flights.

I can certainly understand large craft and especially those containing people, but why might Civil Protection and Emergency Management prohibit even drones that could be used to obtain scientific data on Mt. Keilir including changes in the mountain's appearance which might indicate an eruption was imminent?

enter image description here

Source

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    $\begingroup$ Most likely they are conducting low altitude air operations in the area and don't want to risk running a helicopter into somebody's sight-seeing drone. $\endgroup$
    – Ron Beyer
    Mar 6, 2021 at 2:37
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    $\begingroup$ @RonBeyer I see, so perhaps "all traffic... is prohibited, including drone flights." has exceptions which know who they are? $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Mar 6, 2021 at 2:38
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    $\begingroup$ Maybe they don't want drone hobbyists to go near the volcano due to the high risk of eruption? $\endgroup$ Mar 6, 2021 at 6:01
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    $\begingroup$ They want exclusive rights to the footage :D $\endgroup$
    – user14897
    Mar 7, 2021 at 18:56

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The 5th of Mar NOTAM (valid to 1st of June)...

(A0100/21 NOTAMN
Q) BIRD/QWWXX/IV/NBO/W/000/999/6558N01748W999
A) BIRD
B) 2103051657 C) 2106011657
E) DUE TO POSSIBLE VOLCANIC ERUPTION ON REYKJANES, THE ICELANDIC
TRANSPORT AUTHORITY, IN COOPERATION WITH ISAVIA ANS, HAS DECIDED ON
A PLAN TO BE FOLLOWED TO MAINTAIN SAFETY OF FLIGHT WITHIN THE AREA.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION SEE AIC A002/2021
REF AIP ICELAND ENR 5.2
F) SFC G) UNL)

... references AIC A002/2021. Which notes:

Pilots are urged to use extreme caution due to possible heavy traffic and risk of mid-air collision.
Expect drone flights below 120 meters. [emphasis mine]

That does not agree with the tweet, though permission is required to fly:

Contact Keflavík Tower for permission to enter or pass through the area.


Also, AIP GEN 3.5 (GEN 3.5.3.9) notes:

During volcanic eruption, a mobile radiosonde station can be deployed near the active volcano. Also it can be deployed for research and training purposes. Weather balloons with radiosonde will be launched by IMO scientists. Prior to launch, authorization must be given by Reykjavik ACC. When the launching site is near an aerodrome, further authorization must be given by the respective AFIS/ATC services. Information on mobile radiosonde launches shall be published in NOTAM.

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