Volcano eruptions today: active alerts, eruption clusters, and high-risk regions

This volcanic activity monitor displays current and recent eruptions from volcanoes around the world. Each entry includes the volcano's name, location, eruption type, alert level, and ash plume height where available. The monitor covers everything from minor effusive eruptions producing lava flows to explosive events sending ash columns into the stratosphere.

Volcanic activity is closely linked to seismic events — most eruptions are preceded by increased earthquake activity beneath the volcano. You can cross-reference volcanic unrest with our earthquake tracker to see seismic swarms that may signal an impending eruption. Major eruptions also appear on the global disaster tracker when they threaten populations or disrupt transportation.

The character of a volcanic eruption is determined by magma composition. Basaltic magma — low in silica, low in viscosity — allows dissolved gases to escape gradually as pressure decreases during ascent. The result is effusive eruption: flowing lava rather than explosion. Shield volcanoes like those in Hawaii are built entirely from basaltic lava flows that spread outward in broad sheets, creating wide, gently sloping edifices over hundreds of thousands of years.

Silica-rich magma (andesite, dacite, rhyolite) is far more viscous. Gases cannot escape as the magma rises; pressure builds until the confining rock fractures explosively, fragmenting the magma into ash, pumice, and larger projectiles. Stratovolcanoes — also called composite volcanoes — are built from alternating layers of ash and lava from these explosive cycles. Krakatoa (1883), Pinatubo (1991), and Eyjafjallajökull (2010) are all stratovolcanoes. Calderas form when a magma chamber partially empties and the overlying volcano collapses into the void; Yellowstone is the most monitored caldera system in North America.

Pyroclastic flows — superheated avalanches of gas, ash, and rock fragments traveling at up to 700 km/h — are the deadliest volcanic hazard. The 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée in Martinique killed nearly 30,000 people in minutes. Lahars (volcanic mudflows triggered by rain mixing with ash deposits), tephra fall, volcanic gas emissions (sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide), and lava flows round out the primary hazard types. The 2022 Hunga Tonga eruption — the largest explosive eruption since Pinatubo — demonstrated a less familiar hazard: atmospheric pressure waves that circled the globe twice and triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific.

The Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) rates eruption size on a scale from 0 to 8 based on the volume of material ejected and the height of the eruption column. Like earthquake magnitude, the scale is logarithmic — each step represents a tenfold increase in ejecta volume. A VEI 0 eruption is non-explosive (Hawaiian-style lava flow), while a VEI 8 is a supervolcanic eruption ejecting more than 1,000 cubic kilometers of material.

Most eruptions detected by monitoring networks are VEI 1–3, producing localized ash clouds, lava flows, and minor disruptions. VEI 4–5 eruptions are regionally significant — the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland (VEI 4) shut down European air travel for six days and stranded 10 million passengers. VEI 6 eruptions like Pinatubo in 1991 can affect global climate by injecting sulfur aerosols into the stratosphere, temporarily cooling the planet by 0.5°C over two years.

VEI 7–8 eruptions are exceedingly rare. The last VEI 7 was Tambora in 1815, which caused the "Year Without a Summer" in 1816 — crop failures and famine across Europe and North America. No VEI 8 eruption has occurred in human history; the most recent was Toba approximately 74,000 years ago, an event estimated to have reduced global human population to tens of thousands. Our monitor tracks all eruption sizes but prioritizes events with significant hazard potential.

Roughly 75% of the world's active volcanoes sit along the Ring of Fire. But the remaining 25% includes some of the most scientifically significant and hazardous volcanic systems on Earth.

Iceland straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge — where the North American and Eurasian plates diverge — and also sits above a deep mantle plume. This double heat source makes Iceland one of the most volcanically productive places on Earth by land area. The Reykjanes Peninsula entered a new eruptive phase in 2021 after 800 years of dormancy, with repeated fissure eruptions near the town of Grindavík that have forced evacuations and damaged infrastructure. The East African Rift hosts a very different style of volcanism: Nyiragongo in the DRC contains the world's largest lava lake and sits above Goma, a city of over a million people. Erta Ale in Ethiopia has maintained an active lava lake for over a century.

Mediterranean volcanoes carry the longest recorded eruptive histories of any in the world. Stromboli in Italy has erupted almost continuously for over 2,000 years, earning the nickname "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean." Mount Etna in Sicily is Europe's most active volcano and sits above a population of 3 million on its lower flanks. Campi Flegrei — a caldera system beneath the western suburbs of Naples — has been showing unrest since the 1960s, with ground uplift accelerating in recent years. The live world map visualizes volcanic activity alongside earthquakes and other hazards in these overlapping risk zones.

Hawaii's volcanic activity is driven by a mantle hotspot — a plume of exceptionally hot rock rising from deep within the Earth. As the Pacific Plate drifts northwest over this stationary plume, a chain of volcanic islands forms. The Big Island of Hawaii, currently over the hotspot, hosts the most active volcanoes in the chain.

Kilauea, on the Big Island's southeastern flank, is one of the world's most active volcanoes. It erupted nearly continuously from 1983 to 2018 and has resumed periodic eruptive episodes. Kilauea's eruptions are typically effusive — producing lava flows and lava lakes rather than explosive blasts — making them spectacular but generally less dangerous than explosive stratovolcano eruptions. Mauna Loa, the world's largest active shield volcano, last erupted in late 2022 after 38 years of quiet.

Hawaii volcano eruptions today are monitored by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), which maintains a dense network of seismometers, GPS stations, and gas monitors across the volcanic system. Alert level changes from HVO are reflected on this tracker. Check our earthquake tracker for the seismic activity that typically accompanies Hawaiian volcanic unrest.

Iceland sits on both the Mid-Atlantic Ridge — where the North American and Eurasian plates diverge — and a deep mantle plume, making it one of the most volcanically active places on Earth. Eruptions occur roughly every 4–5 years, ranging from small fissure events to major explosive eruptions that can disrupt transatlantic air travel.

The Reykjanes Peninsula entered a new eruptive phase in 2021 after 800 years of quiet, with repeated fissure eruptions near the town of Grindavík. These events have forced evacuations and damaged infrastructure, demonstrating that even in a technologically advanced country, volcanic hazards pose serious challenges. The 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption (VEI 4) remains the most disruptive recent Icelandic eruption, grounding over 100,000 flights and stranding 10 million passengers across Europe.

Iceland's volcanic monitoring is world-class, with the Icelandic Meteorological Office operating real-time seismic, GPS, and gas monitoring networks. Precursory earthquake swarms and ground deformation are typically detected weeks before eruptions begin. Iceland volcano eruptions today are reflected on this tracker alongside global volcanic activity.