Iceland ? Authorities evacuated hundreds of people after a volcano erupted beneath a glacier in southern Iceland, Iceland’s civil protection agency said today.

The eruption occurred late Saturday night beneath the Eyjafjallajokull glacier, the fifth largest glacier in Iceland. The volcano is covered by an ice cap.

Fearing flooding from the glacier melt, authorities evacuated some 400 people in the area 100 miles southeast of the capital, Reykjavik, as a precaution but no damage or injuries have been reported, said Vidir Reynisson, the department manager for the Icelandic Civil Protection Department.

A state of emergency has been declared in communities near the 100-square-mile glacier.