Dear All,
Some of topics in this forum show some people's interests on either studying, working, or living in Iceland, including myself. I believe a place always has both positive and negative sides.
We also know that in April 2010, there was volcanic eruption in Eyjafjallajokull and until today, eruption still occurs.
To all of you who knows more accurate information, please kindly share what the current situation is in Iceland in general, and Reykjavik in specific so that it will help us to analyze the situation better in deciding whether we would still like to study, work, and live there nowadays. To those of you who are in Iceland already, especially in Reykjavik, please put yourself into our positions, the ones who consider to study, work, or live there. Do you think it is still OK to do that nowadays? or, do you advice us to hold for awhile until the situation is clearer? Appreciate all your information, suggestion, and feedback on the current condition about Iceland (and Reykjavik in specific) after the volcano eruption.
Thank you
Please share info about Reykjavik condition after volcano eruption
I live in Reykjavik, and to be honest, you wouldn't even know there is a volcano erupting. The volcanic eruption is about two hours by car to the east and the winds (typically the Westerlies) blow the ash cloud over Europe. (Sorry, Europe) This means that the areas of Reykjavik and west Iceland, where the international airport and most universities are, are hardly affected. I would say that Ireland, Scotland, and England are taking the brunt of this eruption.
That isn't to say that farmers in the eruption area haven't been devastated though. The area in south Iceland near the eruption is very sparsely populated, so maybe a few hundred people have been directly affected by it. Otherwise, the eruption area is drawing large crowds of tourists.
Overall, I don't see how this affects work or studies for anyone in the capital area. In fact, I'm studying for finals this week. The only distraction I have from the volcano is the amazing photos posted online!
as jrbowe said, Reykjavík is not affected at all. The only towns that have (or might have) an evacuation plan are those in the direct path of the rivers that might flood, such as Vík and Skógar. Reykjavík is nowhere near any of these rivers- they flow off the glacier tongues and pretty much directly into the sea.
But I should point out that it's not "after" the eruption. It's spewing somewhat less ash but is still completely active and shows no signs of stopping.
We've had some flight disruption last week but not major since they could shift to other airports here. I haven't even seen a shortage of the (extensive) selection of imported produce or any other effects really.
So the only concern for you should be if it makes you uncomfortable to live in a place where this kind of thing happens semi-regularly (earthquakes and volcanoes). I feel pretty safe personally since there are a lot of very dedicated scientists keeping an eye on everything and an excellent rescue crew. Icelanders are accustomed to dealing with the quirks of the country and seem to take it all well in stride.
Hi jrbowe and ECS,
Many thanks for your valuable information. It seems that Reykjavik is not affected so much with the eruption.
ECS, when you said earthquake happens semi-regularly, do people sense those earthquakes in Reykjavik? are they major ones, or just small ones, and no major damages are found?
I've been here for nearly 5 years and experienced 2 detectable earthquakes. One was between a 4 and 5 on the Richter and just made things move around a bit. No damage was reported from that, as far as I recall.
the more recent one was over 6 and damaged roads and some houses but nothing unrepairable, and I think the only casualties were sheep. It's an advantage that the country is sparsely populated and the construction not extremely tall and rather sturdy.
We're directly on a plate boundary so there are earthquakes constantly, but as this map shows, most are pretty small and can't be felt:
http://www.vedur.is/#syn=skjalftar
green stars are over 3 on the richter, and "Klukkutímar frá skjálfta" means "hours since earthquake".
