"Evacuation in response to the volcanic eruption was concluded after an extremely rapid response," Icelandic public broadcaster RUV said on its website.

"Everyone known to have been in the area has been brought to safety and is now accounted for," it added.

An Icelandic civil protections department official told AFP early Sunday that between 500 and 600 people were evacuated from their homes.

RUV also reported the airports in the capital Reykjavik, Keflavik and Akureyri were closed after the eruption, which occurred shortly after midnight on Sunday.

A volcano in the area of the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier last erupted in 1821 and 1823.

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.