Public perception of jokulhlaup hazard and risk in Iceland: implications for community education

Recent studies indicate that large prehistoric jokulhlaup have flooded west from Myrdalsjokull glacier along the Markarfljot River, south Iceland. This new evidence coupled with an increase in seismicity in the Katla caldera, the underlying volcano of Myrdalsjokull, has highlighted a possible risk to local communities encompassing the Markarfljot River. Consequently, the Icelandic Civil Defence held an evacuation exercise in March 2006 to test a newly developed evacuation plan. Following this exercise, we conducted questionnaire surveys in order to investigate the public's knowledge and perception of jokulhlaup hazard and risk. Our results indicate that residents have a sound knowledge of jokulhlaup hazard. However, only 50% of residents perceive that their community could be at risk. Therefore, it is essential that jokulhlaup risk perception is increased to ensure a positive response to evacuation orders. This can be achieved through education programmes, open forum meetings and by regularly distributing hazard information.