US Volcano Map

About US Volcano Map

The US volcano map shows all the volcanoes that have been active over the past 2,000 years, and they're marked with a red icon on the map. You can also see other areas that could potentially be active, and those are marked in black. The physical relief on the map give a sense of the physical landscape of the United States, with all 50 states labeled including their abbreviations. Plus, the neighboring countries like Canada, Mexico, and Cuba are on the map. States of Alaska and Hawaii are shown in inset. The USA volcano map is a great tool for learning about the active volcanoes in the United States of America.

Major Active Volcanoes in the United States

There are dozens of active volcanoes in the United States, with the majority located on the western mainland as well as in Alaska and Hawaii. Here we will look at a list of active volcanoes in each region, their locations and brief descriptions.

Kīlauea (Hawaii)

Kīlauea has been erupting for millions of years and continues to grow as one of the world’s most active volcanoes. Ongoing eruptions of lava flows and surface lava lakes, along with occasional explosive events, continue to affect the height and pace of growth of the volcano, as well as affect nearby neighborhoods, destruction of homes, and impact to infrastructure. Unlike most volcanoes, Kīlauea is distinguished by gentle effusion of fluid lava instead of explosive ash eruptions.

Mauna Loa (Hawaii)

Mauna Loa is the largest volcano on Earth in both volume and surface area. It is located on the Big Island of Hawaii and is a shield volcano which produces fluid lava, flowing slowly down its slopes. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Mauna Loa erupted dozens of times, with its most recent eruption ending in 2022. At such enormous size, Mauna Loa poses a great threat to both populations and the environment through its potential to emit widespread lava flows.

Mauna Kea (Hawaii)

Mauna Kea is considered to be dormant but potentially active, with the most recent eruption occurring about 4,500 years ago. It is 13,796 feet tall above sea level, but is 33,465 feet tall when measured from base on the ocean floor. Mauna Kea is currently being studied by volcanologists for signs of activity, and there currently is no indication of eruption occurring.

Mount St. Helens (Washington)

Mount St. Helens is one of the best known volcanoes in the United States. It made world headlines in 1980 with a catastrophic eruption that produced a huge ash cloud, explosive eruptions, and pyroclastic flows. Since 2004, Mount St. Helens has been erupting, producing both seismicity and eruptions, as well as growing a series of domes of solid rock that periodically flow down slopes as pyroclastic flows. Mount St. Helens is one of the most intensively studied volcanoes in the world and remains very active today.

Mount Rainier (Washington)

Mount Rainier is one of the most volatile volcanoes in the country due to its size, location, and 25 square miles of glaciers, ice rivers and permanent snow. An eruption could lead to torrent waves of lahars (mud flows) that could damage cities all the way down to Tacoma and Seattle. The most recent eruption was 1854, but Mount Rainier is still considered active. Scientists closely monitor the mountain.

Mount Hood (Oregon)

At 11,249 feet, Mount Hood is Oregon's highest peak and most recently active volcano. Its most recent eruption period ended in the late 18th century, but the volcano still poses a threat to people living nearby with the potential for a lahar or smaller-scale eruption. Because of its height, Mount Hood is classified as a High Risk volcano.

Mount Shasta (California)

Mount Shasta is a 4,270 m high active stratovolcano in Northern California. It has produced major eruptions in at least three time periods during the past 10,000 years, with the most recent eruption occurring about 200 years ago. It is potentially active today and could produce explosive eruptions of volcanic ash and pumice, as well as hazardous volcanic mudflows. The mountain also has a number of glaciers, which are currently wasting due to recent climate change.

Lassen Peak (California)

Lassen Peak is an active stratovolcano of the Lassen Volcanic Center. The most recent period of eruption occurred from 1914 to 1917, following which the volcano has remained quiet. However, it is considered active, and it is one of the few volcanoes in the contiguous 48 states to have erupted in the 20th century. Much of the region is still volcanically active, and geothermal features like hot springs and fumaroles are still evident.

Mount Baker (Washington)

Mount Baker is one of the most active volcanoes in the Cascade Range, and while there has been no recent eruption the volcano is still actively producing geothermal events like recent increased heat flow, and periodic steam day and night from several locations on the mountain. Mount Baker is considered potentially active and could erupt in the future.

Glacier Peak (Washington)

Glacier Peak is a remote, highly explosive, 10,500 ft. (3,192 m) stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of Washington. Some of the largest explosive eruptions in the Cascades in the past 15,000 years have come from this volcano. Glacier Peak is currently dormant but poses significant volcanic hazards.

Crater Lake (Mount Mazama, Oregon)

Crater Lake was formed about 7,700 years ago when Mount Mazama collapsed. Although the major volcano is no longer erupting, the area is still volcanically active and eruptions do occur within the caldera. These eruptions are generally small, but there is always the possibility for future activity.

Yellowstone Caldera (Wyoming)

Yellowstone is one of the world's largest volcanic systems. It is a supervolcano, with a caldera left from a massive eruption millions of years ago. There have been no eruptions in recorded history, but Yellowstone is still experiencing episodes of geothermal activity. It has occasional earthquakes and its volcanic system is monitored around the globe as it could have the potential to produce an eruption large enough to change the world.

Long Valley Caldera (California)

The Long Valley Caldera is a large volcanic system in eastern California that erupted about 760,000 years ago. Recently, however, the caldera has been experiencing ground uplift and unrest since the late 1970s. Seismic activity has been increasing in recent years, and the USGS considers the caldera to be active with potential for future eruptions that could pose a significant volcanic hazard to people and infrastructure in the region.

Mount Redoubt (Alaska)

Mount Redoubt is an 10,197-foot (3,108 m), 10-km wide, glacier-covered stratovolcano that is part of the Aleutian arc and has produced three previous eruptions, the most recent in 2009. These events have been explosive with resulting ash emissions and could affect commercial air travel.

Mount Pavlof (Alaska)

Pavlof is one of Alaska's most active volcanoes, erupting nearly every year for the past few decades. Its eruptions typically produce explosive events with ash plumes that affect aviation routes, for which frequent flights are sent to monitor the volcano's impact.

Augustine Volcano (Alaska)

Volcanic Activity: Augustine is an active stratovolcano (Andesite) located on the southern coast of Alaska. Most recent eruption occurred in 2006. Augustine eruptions are typically explosive with a significant dome growth component.

Mount Spurr (Alaska)

Mount Spurr, an 11,070 ft (3,379 m) stratovolcano, rose 11.070 feet to erupt in 1953 and most recently in 1992. At 11,070 feet high and active, Mount Spurr is one of Alaska's most active volcanoes and a potential threat to the Alaskan city of Anchorage.

Akutan Volcano (Alaska)

Volcanoes dot the Aleutian Islands, but none may be as active as Akutan, where recent eruptions continue to emit bursts of ash.

Okmok Caldera (Alaska)

Okmok Caldera is about 8 km wide and has experienced numerous eruptions, most recently in 2008 when explosive pyroclastic flows and lava flows were emitted.

Great Sitkin Volcano (Alaska)

Recent activity on Great Sitkin Island has been marked by growth of a lava dome over several years and relatively high levels of unrest. As such, it is one of Alaska's currently active volcanoes.

US Volcanoes

The USA boasts some of the volcanic regions globally with, over 160 live volcanoes. Ranking third worldwide after Indonesia and Japan in terms of volcanic count. Most of these mountains are situated along the coast of the country in states like Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. These regions are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire a zone, for its frequent tremors and volcanic activity.

Major Volcanic Regions

Alaska is home, to the volcanoes in the United States.Spread over 1,200 miles the Aleutian Arc is a series of islands hosting watched summits like Mount Redoubt, Mount Spurr and Augustine Volcano.These volcanoes have the potential to unleash eruptions that may affect air travel because of ash clouds, at altitudes..

The Hawaiian Islands which exist in the Pacific Ocean developed entirely from volcanic processes. The Big Island of Hawaii hosts Mauna Loa and Kīlauea which rank as two of the most researched and active volcanoes globally. The largest volcano on Earth in terms of volume extends 33,500 feet above the seafloor to reach its summit.

The Cascade Range spans, from California to British Columbia and is home to well known volcanoes like Mount St Helens Mount Rainier' Mount Hood' and Mount Shasta'. Among these volcanoes Mount St Helens stands out for its eruption on May 18th' 1980', an event that still holds the record as the destructive volcanic disaster, in U.S.' history' claiming the lives of 57 individuals and leveling hundreds of square miles of forested land'.

Volcanic Monitoring and Safety

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) a government agency tasked with overseeing activity, under the Volcano Hazards Program umbrella has five Volcano Observatories across the nation. Alaska Volcano Observatory; Cascades Volcano Observatory; California Volcano Observatory; Hawaiian Volcano Observatory; and Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. That rely on ground sensors, satellite information tracking gas emissions and visual surveys to evaluate potential dangers.

Timely alerts are crucial, in reducing the threat to lives with the USGS coordinating with agencies and emergency services to issue public warnings through a color coded system, for volcanic activity mitigation.

Yellowstone Caldera

The Yellowstone Caldera in Wyoming stands as one of the most important volcanic systems from a geological perspective. The Yellowstone supervolcano has not erupted since more than 640,000 years ago yet it remains classified as such because of its historical eruption scale. The region shows ongoing geological activity through frequent earthquakes and geothermal features like geysers and hot springs but scientists have found no signs that an eruption is approaching.

Volcanic Impact on Communities and Ecosystems

Throughout history, in the United States eruptions have caused changes to the land. Impacted the air quality while also causing disruptions to travel plans In Alaska ash clouds have even caused international flights to change their routes and in Hawaii flowing lava has wreak havoc by destroying homes and important infrastructure Nevertheless volcanic soils are frequently abundant in nutrients making regions close to inactive volcanoes highly desirable, for farming purposes

The development of urban areas near volcanoes creates special challenges for emergency preparedness in specific regions of the Pacific Northwest. The cities of Seattle and Portland face the risk of volcanic eruptions because they are located near potentially active volcanoes which requires both extensive planning and public awareness programs.