Back on the old blog, I used to do frequent updates on volcanic eruptions around the world. Now that I’m covering a wider field of geology, those are a little more uncommon. There is a lot of information about volcanic activity going on across globe at any one time. Usually about 8-12 volcanoes are erupting at the same time, so never believe the hype if you see media articles about how 2-3 volcanoes erupted so that means the Earth is going crazy!
Here are some places I go to check on volcanic activity:
- Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program: This is the ultimate source of verified volcano news. The Weekly Volcanic Activity Report has snapshots of much of the eruptive activity that occurs across the planet and is vetted, so you can trust the information is real. Updated on Thursdays (usually), this is the place to start.
- VAAC: The Volcano Ash Advisory Centers have more technical information about eruptions as they happen. The world is divided up into different VAACs, so you can select the region where the volcanoes you’re interested in lie to see if they have issued any advisories for air traffic due to volcanic activity.
A whole bunch of volcano monitoring agencies have pages with status updates and information for their country’s volcanoes. Here is a selection of some of the best and most frequently updated:
- USGS Volcano Hazards Program: If you are keen on American volcanoes, check out the USGS Volcano Hazards Program page, which features a great map of the current status of the volcanoes in the United States. It is a simple status system: green is “everything is normal”, yellow is “unrest”, orange is “high unrest and eruption” and red is “active, hazardous eruption”.
If you are really curious check out more sources of Volcano info!