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Volcano Hazards Program

Find U.S. Volcano

There are about 160 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 — A decade of disaster response: Mahalo to Talmadge Magno, Hawaii County Civil Defense Administrator

Volcano Watch — A decade of disaster response: Mahalo to Talmadge Magno, Hawaii County Civil Defense Administrator

Volcano Watch — Watching volcanoes move, one survey at a time

Volcano Watch — Watching volcanoes move, one survey at a time

Volcano Watch — When will Halemaʻumaʻu fill with lava?

Volcano Watch — When will Halemaʻumaʻu fill with lava?

Publications

Constraining sources of mid-Pleistocene to present explosive volcanism in the Gulf of Alaska using machine learning and compositional data analysis Constraining sources of mid-Pleistocene to present explosive volcanism in the Gulf of Alaska using machine learning and compositional data analysis

The long-term eruptive record of a region helps better elucidate magmatic processes at depth as well as volcanic hazards at the surface. Typically, reconstructing such records is done using proximal tephrostratigraphy and linking individual tephras to source volcanoes. These records, however, can only be accurately constructed if they are both well preserved and correctly linked to...
Authors
Jordan Edward Lubbers, Matthew W. Loewen, Kristi L. Wallace

Examples of eruption response teams from the Alaska Volcano Observatory Examples of eruption response teams from the Alaska Volcano Observatory

During times of eruption response, volcano observatories need to organize themselves differently than during normal operations. The number of formal operational roles grows to ensure that critical responsibilities are covered, including management of all activities at the observatory as well as increased staffing to ensure proper surveillance of data and issuance of timely notices and...
Authors
Michelle L. Coombs, Kristi L. Wallace, Ronni Grapenthin, Jordan Edward Lubbers, Tom Murray

Comprehensive characterization of Mauna Loa basalt rheology based on the 2022 eruption Comprehensive characterization of Mauna Loa basalt rheology based on the 2022 eruption

Rheological data are crucial for the understanding of storage, transport, eruption, and emplacement of magma and lava. While viscosity estimates for lavas from Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano on Earth, exist, no direct rheological measurements have been done to date. This is especially surprising given the role Mauna Loa lavas and resulting landforms play in the interpretation of...
Authors
Stephan Kolzenburg, Martin Harris, M. Oryaelle Chevrel, Kendra J. Lynn
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