Can an eruption at one volcano trigger an eruption at another volcano?

Ash buries cars and buildings after the 1984 eruption of Rabaul, Papua New Guinea. Credit: USGS

-- a Centennial perspective of the Novarupta-Katmai eruption, the largest of the 20th century

By Judy Fierstein, USGS

• 100 years ago on June 6, a 3-day explosive eruption at Novarupta on the Alaska Peninsula created the spectacular Katmai caldera and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, called the eighth wonder of the

Bill Burton discusses the June 6-8, 1912 eruption of Mount Katmai in Alaska which was 30 times larger than the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980. This eruption caused widespread devastation, and inspired heroic efforts at survival by the local people. Burton returns to this topic a century later and explains what lessons the Mount Katmai eruption provides for modern-day

A gas plume arising from Augustine Volcano during it's eruptive phase 2005-06. This photo was taken during  a FLIR/maintenance flight on January 24, 2006.

Ash cloud from Anatahan volcano.

_{Eruption cloud, from the east crater of Anatahan Volcano, rising to a height of about 15,000 feet, on May 10, 2003. View from the NE side of the island, looking in a southwesterly direction.}

View southeast from Overlook Cabin looking over the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. The pyroclastic and ash deposits that fill the valley remain nearly vegetation-free more than 100 years after the 1912 Novarupta-Katmai eruption.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists monitor Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano on Earth. In this 1985 aerial photo, Mauna Loa looms above Kīlauea Volcano’s summit caldera (left center) and nearly obscures Hualālai in the far distance (upper right).

Erupting vents on Mauna Loa’s northeast rift zone near Pu‘u‘ula‘ula (Red Hill) on Mar. 25, 1984, sent massive ‘a‘ā lava flows down the rift toward Kūlani.