I am relieved that...

...I wasn't in the abbattoir refrigerating room when today's earthquake shook the place. Yup, we had a "Suðurlandsskjálfti" today, which is the term used for quakes in the south of Iceland that reach a caliber over 6 on the Richter scale. They say it was about 6,2 and that is pretty big.



I was just back from castrating two yearlings (year-old horses) and worming a bunch of crazy cattle. I guess it wouldn't have made the task easier if the animals were going mad from quake frenzy. We were all hanging about in the clinic, prepping for the next task or tidying away from the last one when all of a sudden there was a booming sound and everything went wobbly. I had been feeling some shudders last night and this morning but it still took me by surprise. We all huddled in one doorway and then quickly ran out. Phew, it was ok here in comparison to further "south" (which is the term for "West" here) where many houses are now full of bashed stuff. I really didn't think of my house until I got home after work and waited a bit before opening the door, just to prepare for the ensuing sight. I was expecting broken glass jars on the kitchen floor but these were unnecessary worries, as the only thing on the floor was Björk's "Vespertine", whereas other CDs had just shifted slightly towards the edge of the shelf. Also, a whisky bottle was curiously close to the edge, so all in all quite lucky. This is a timber house after all, and the ground floor, so less damage could be expected.



And yes, the refrigerating room in the abbattoir was stuffed with carcasses of cows and horses in full swing while the quake lasted! The workers were in there at the time and apparently it was rather spooky. To tell you the truth it is quite spooky enough when you are in there among the carcasses, alone after hours and then the lights go out...!