Iceland Volcano Bardarbunga: 1,000 Earthquakes Detected Near Volcano, Adding To Fears Of A Potential

Even if Bardy does go into a caldera collapse, it will most likely not be worse than a VEI 5 which is about the size of Pinatubo. Now that'll give us folks in the Northern hemisphere a nasty winter, but unless the rifting event that's currently taking place deepens and picks up mantle sourcing or other volcanos get involved, a Pinatubo will hardly be a worldwide catastrophe.

In Iceland, they would have to worry about possible jokulhaups flooding taking out their power stations I think, but it would still mostly be in uninhabited areas. And, the Icelandic authorities are old hands and dealing with volcanism.