‘Scary’ audio leaves Iceland bracing for volcanic eruption as bubbles of lava brew

Toxic fumes and widespread disruption looks increasingly likely as a potential eruption nears.

Reykjavik has ordered evacuations and declared a state of emergency as seismic activity ramps up around the Fagradalsfjall volcano.

WATCH NOW: Volcanic activity in Iceland

The eruption is expected to take place in the coming days.

An application which transforms seismic frequencies into audible pitches has fuelled further concerns as members of the public can now listen to the unnerving rumbling.

Earthtunes, which has been developed by Northwestern University, transforms the more familiar recording of squiggly lines scratched across a page into something that can instead be heard.

The result is an “exciting and scary” cacophony of noise as the island's Reykjanes Peninsula is hit by hundreds of earthquakes.

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Northwestern seismologist Suzan van der Lee, who co-developed Earthtunes, said: “The activity is formidable, exciting and scary.”

She added: “Iceland did the right thing by evacuating residents in nearby Grindavik and the nearby Svartsengi geothermal power plant, one of the world's oldest geothermal power plants, which was the first to combine electricity generation with hot water for heating in the region.”

Addressing recent recordings, Van der Lee explained: “What you're hearing is 24 hours of seismic data — filled with earthquake signals.

“The vast majority of these quakes are associated with the magma intrusion into the crust of the Fagradallsfjall-Svartsengi-Grindavik area of the Reykjanes Peninsula.”

Van der Lee also claimed the impending explosion is reminiscent of the 1973 eruption of Heimaey on Iceland's Vestmannaeyjar archipelago.

A volcanic eruption witnessed in the Nordic country in 2010 led to European air travel chaos.

About 20 countries closed their airspace to commercial jet traffic and it affected approximately 10million travellers.

Nearly 100,000 flights to and from and within Europe cancelled across the six-day-period.

Thirteen travel firms collapsed across Britain during the summer of 2010.