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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 — Using acoustic signals to identify the start of 2022 Mauna Loa eruption

Volcano Watch — Using acoustic signals to identify the start of 2022 Mauna Loa eruption

Photo and Video Chronology — Quiet at Kīlauea summit on March 21, 2024

Photo and Video Chronology — Quiet at Kīlauea summit on March 21, 2024

Volcano Watch — Establishing a Nascent Monitoring Program on Pico Basile Volcano, Equatorial Guinea

Volcano Watch — Establishing a Nascent Monitoring Program on Pico Basile Volcano, Equatorial Guinea

Publications

Pre-existing ground cracks as lava flow pathways at Kīlauea in 2014

In 2014, the Pāhoa lava flow at Kīlauea, on the Island of Hawaiʻi (USA), entered a string of pre-existing meter-width ground cracks in the volcano’s East Rift Zone. The ground cracks transported lava below the surface in a direction discordant to the slope of the landscape. The cracks, which were 100s of meters long and 10s to 100s of meters deep, also widened by up to several meters as they fille
Authors
T. Orr, Edward W. Llewellin, Kyle R. Anderson, Matthew R. Patrick

Olivine diffusion constrains months-scale magma transport within Kīlauea volcano’s summit reservoir system prior to the 2020 eruption

The unprecedented 2018 summit collapse at Kīlauea and subsequent 2020–2021 eruption within the newly deepened Halema‘uma‘u Crater provide an unparalleled opportunity to understand how collapse events impact a volcano’s shallow reservoir system and magmatic processes. Glass and olivine from tephra ejected by lava fountains and several explosions on 20–21 December, within a few hours of the 2020 eru
Authors
Kendra J. Lynn, Patricia Nadeau, Dawn Catherine Sweeney Ruth, Jefferson Chang, Peter Dotray, Ingrid Johanson

The geochemistry of continental hydrothermal systems

Hydrothermal systems on the continents are of great significance because they are primary sources of economically important metals and geothermal energy, they are tourist attractions, they support bathing and health resorts, and they host extreme life forms. Research on hot springs and their deposits provide clues to early life on Earth and possibly on Mars and have led to major breakthroughs in b
Authors
Shaul Hurwitz, Andri Stefánsson, Everett L. Shock, Barbara I. Kleine