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Volcano Hazards Program

Find U.S. Volcano

There are about 170 potentially active volcanoes in the U.S. The mission of the USGS Volcano Hazards Program is to enhance public safety and minimize social and economic disruption from volcanic unrest and eruption through our National Volcano Early Warning System. We deliver forecasts, warnings, and information about volcano hazards based on a scientific understanding of volcanic behavior.

News

Volcano Watch — What sounds the (automated) alarms at HVO?

Volcano Watch — What sounds the (automated) alarms at HVO?

Volcano Watch — Quantifying corrosion downwind of Kīlauea

Volcano Watch — Quantifying corrosion downwind of Kīlauea

Volcano Watch — ʻAilāʻau or Kualoloa? Hawaiian chants suggest lava flow name change

Volcano Watch — ʻAilāʻau or Kualoloa? Hawaiian chants suggest lava flow name change

Publications

Triggering the 2022 eruption of Mauna Loa

Distinguishing periods of intermittent unrest from the run-up to eruption is a major challenge at volcanoes around the globe. Comparing multidisciplinary monitoring data with mineral chemistry that records the physical and spatio-temporal evolution of magmas fundamentally advances our ability to forecast eruptions. The recent eruption of Mauna Loa, Earth’s largest active volcano, provides a unique
Authors
Kendra J. Lynn, Drew T. Downs, Frank A. Trusdell, Penny E. Wieser, Berenise Rangel, Baylee Rose McDade, Alicia J. Hotovec-Ellis, Ninfa Lucia Bennington, Kyle R. Anderson, Dawn Catherine Sweeney Ruth, Charlotte DeVitre, Andria P. Ellis, Patricia A. Nadeau, Laura E. Clor, Peter J. Kelly, Peter Dotray, Jefferson Chang

Depths in a day - A new era of rapid-response Raman-based barometry using fluid inclusions

Rapid-response petrological monitoring is a major advance for volcano observatories, allowing them to build and validate models of plumbing systems that supply eruptions in near-real-time. The depth of magma storage has recently been identified as high-priority information for volcanic observatories, yet this information is not currently obtainable via petrological monitoring methods on timescales
Authors
Charlotte DeVitre, Penny E. Wieser, Alexander T. Bearden, Araela Richie, Berenise Rangel, Matthew Gleeson, John Grimsich, Kendra J. Lynn, Drew T. Downs, Natalia I. Deligne, Katherine M. Mulliken

Zircon constraints on the eruptive sequence and magma evolution of rhyolites at South Sister volcano, Oregon

We present 230Th-238U crystallization ages and trace element compositions for zircons spanning the late Pleistocene to Holocene rhyolite eruptive record at South Sister volcano in the central Oregon Cascade Range. Most zircon ages are between 100 and 20 ka, with very few in secular equilibrium (>350 ka). The weighted mean of zircon ages for the two oldest South Sister rhyolites, 31.5 ± 2.1 and 39.
Authors
Annika E. Dechert, Nathan Lee Andersen, Josef Dufek, Christine E. Jilly-Rehak
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