The Significant Volcanic Eruptions Database is a global listing of over 600 eruptions from 4360 BC to the present. A significant eruption is classified as one that meets at least one of the following criteria: caused fatalities, caused moderate damage (approximately $1 million or more), Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 6 or greater, generated a tsunami, or was associated with a significant earthquake. The database provides information on the latitude, longitude, elevation, type of volcano, last known eruption, VEI index, and socio-economic data such as the total number of casualties, injuries, houses destroyed, and houses damaged, and $ dollage damage estimates. References, political geography, and additional comments are also provided for each eruption. If the eruption was associated with a tsunami or significant earthquake, it is flagged and linked to the related database. For a complete list of current and past activity for all volcanoes on the planet active during the last 10,000 years, please see Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program (GVP).

The statistic presents the death toll in individual countries due to the world's major volcanic eruptions from 1900 to 2016*. The volcanic eruption in Cameroon on August 24, 1986 claimed a total of 1,746 deaths. Volcanic eruptions A volcanic eruption is defined as a discharge of lava and gas from a volcanic vent or fissure. Volcanoes spew hot, dangerous gases, ash, lava, and rock that are powerfully destructive. The most common consequences of this are population movements, economic loss, affected people and deaths.

Agriculture-based economies are most affected by volcanic eruption. It is unpredictable how much affected an agriculture-based economy will be in a volcanic eruption. The economic loss caused by major volcanic eruptions varies from 1,000 million U.S. during the volcanic eruption in Colombia, November 13, 1995, to 80 million U.S. dollar caused by the volcanic eruption in Japan in 1945.

It is a big tragedy when people are affected by natural disasters. 1,036,065 affected people were counted during the volcanic eruption in the Philippines in June 9, 1991. Most of the states which know about the volcanic activities in their countries have an evacuation plan trying to safe peoples lives. In some cases it is difficult for the people to follow authorities’ instructions caused by unforeseen situations and it comes to high numbers of casualties like in the volcanic eruption in Ecuador in August 14, 2006.

According to the Wold Risk Index from 2013, Qatar, with an index value of 0.1, was the safest country in the world. This index is a complex interplay of natural hazards and social, political and environmental factors.

A significant eruption is classified as one that meets at least one of the following criteriacaused fatalities, caused moderate damage (approximately $1 million or more), Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 6 or greater, generated a tsunami, or was associated with a significant earthquake.The database contains information on the latitude, longitude, elevation, type of volcano, last known eruption, VEI index, and socio-economic data such as the total number of casualties, injuries, houses destroyed, and houses damaged, and $ dollage damage estimates, if available.

The word volcano is used to refer to the opening from which molten rock and gas issue from Earth's interior onto the surface, and also to the cone, hill, or mountain built up around the opening by the eruptive products. This slide set depicts ash clouds, fire fountains, lava flows, spatter cones, glowing avalanches, and steam eruptions from 18 volcanoes in 13 countries. Volcano types include strato, cinder cone, basaltic shield, complex, and island-forming. Perhaps no force of nature arouses more awe and wonder than that of a volcanic eruption. Volcanoes can be ruthless destroyers. Primitive people offered sacrifices to stem the tide of such eruptions and many of their legends were centered around volcanic activity. Volcanoes are also benefactors. Volcanic processes have liberated gases of the atmosphere and water in our lakes and oceans from the rocks deep beneath Earth's surface. The fertility of the soil is greatly enhanced by volcanic eruptive products. Land masses such as islands and large sections of continents may owe their existence entirely to volcanic activity. The "volcano" is used to refer to the opening from which molten rock and gas issue from Earth's interior onto the surface, and also to the cone, hill, or mountain built up around the opening by the eruptive products. The molten rock material generated within Earth that feeds volcanoes is called magma and the storage reservoir near the surface is called the magmachamber. Eruptive products include lava (fluid rock material) and pyroclastics or tephra (fragmentary solid or liquid rock material). Tephra includes volcanic ash, lapilli (fragments between 2 and 64 mm), blocks, and bombs. Low viscosity lava can spread great distances from the vent. Higher viscosity produces thicker lava flows that cover less area. Lava may formlava lakes of fluid rock in summit craters or in pit craters on the flanks of shield volcanoes. When the lava issues vertically from a central vent or a fissure in a rhythmic, jet-like eruption, it produces a lava fountain. Pyroclastic (fire-broken) rocks and rock fragments are products of explosive eruptions. These may be ejected more or less vertically, thenfall back to Earth in the form of ash fall deposits. Pyroclastic flows result when the eruptive fragments follow the contours of the volcano and surrounding terrain. They are of three main types: glowing ash clouds, ash flows, and mudflows. A glowing ash cloud (nuee ardente) consists of an avalanche of incandescent volcanic fragments suspended on a cushion of air or expanding volcanic gas. This cloud forms from the collapse of a vertical ash eruption, from a directed blast, or is the result of the disintegration of a lava dome. Temperatures in the glowing cloud can reach 1,000 deg C and velocities of 150 km per hour. Ash flows resemble glowing ash clouds; however, their temperatures are much lower. Mudflows (lahars) consist of solid volcanic rock fragments held in water suspension. Some may be hot, but most occur as cold flows. They may reach speeds of 92 km per hour and extend to distances of several tens of kilometers. Large snow-covered volcanoes that erupt explosively are the principal sources of mud flows. Explosions can give rise to air shock waves and base surges. Air shock waves are generated as a result of the explosive introduction of volcanic ejecta into the atmosphere. A base surge may carry air, water, and solid debris outward from the volcano at the base of the vertical explosion column. Volcanic structures can take many forms. A few of the smaller structures built directly around vents include cinder, spatter, and lava cones. Thick lavas may pile up over their vents to form lava domes. Larger structures produced by low viscosity lava flows include lava plains and gently sloping cones known as a shield volcanoes. A stratovolcano (also known as a composite volcano) is built of successive layers of ash and lava. A volcano may consist of two or more cones side by side and is referred to as compound or complex. Sometimes a violent eruption will partially empty the underground reservoir of magma. The roof of the magma chamber may thenpartially or totally collapse. The resulting caldera may be filled by water. The volcanic structure tells us much about the nature of the eruptions.

The statistic shows the economic damage caused by major volcanic eruptions in the period from 1900 to 2016*. The volcanic eruption on September 09, 1983 in Indonesia caused a loss of approximately 149.69 million U.S. dollars.

This statistic displays the largest volcanic eruptions in history based on the volume tephra that was erupted. About 30 million years ago, the Wha Wha Springs eruption produced more than 5500 cubic kilometers of ejecta in a week.

The Significant Volcanic Eruption Database is a global listing of over 500 significant eruptions which includes information on the latitude, longitude, elevation, type of volcano, and last known eruption. A significant eruption is classified as one that meets at least one of the following criteria: caused fatalities, caused moderate damage (approximately $1 million or more), with a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 6 or larger, caused a tsunami, or was associated with a major earthquake.

The statistic shows the number of people, who were affected by the world's most significant volcanic eruptions from 1900 to 2016*. In 1991, total 1,036,035 were affected due to volcanic eruption in Philippines.

This dataset is associated with the VolcanEESM project led by the project team at the University of Leeds. The project was funded by NCAR/UCAR Atmospheric Chemistry and Modeling Visiting Scientist Program, NCAS, University of Leeds.

The global volcanic sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions database is a combination of available information from the wider literature with as many observations of the amount and location of SO2 emitted by each volcanic eruption as possible. The database includes no information about the size, mass, distribution or optical depth of resulting aerosol. As such the database is model agnostic and it is up to each modeling group to make decisions about how to implement the emission file in their prognostic stratospheric aerosol scheme.

The dataset is divided into two parts based on the availability of satellite data. For the pre-satellite era, the necessary information about the emissions was gathered from the latest ice core records of sulphate deposition in combination historical accounts available in the wider literature (see references included in the database for specific citation for each record). In the satellite era, volcanic emissions were primarily derived from remotely sensed observations.

For the period 1850 CE to 1979 the dataset combined the most recent volcanic sulfate deposition datasets from ice cores with volcanological and, where applicable, petrological estimates of the SO2 mass emitted as well as historical records of large-magnitude volcanic eruptions. In detail, for the majority of eruptions between 1850 CE to 1979 , there are few direct measurement of SO2 emissions or quantitative observations of the plume height and very few measurements of the aerosol optical depth (AOD).

Parameters in the database include: Day_of_Emission: The 24 hour period in which the emission is thought to have occurred. (Ordered by the variable Eruption_Number starting with the first eruption in the database.)

Eruption: Field that contains the Volcano_Number (Which uniquely identifies each volcano in the Global Volcanism Program Database), Volcano_Name (official name from the Global Volcanism Program Database), Notes_and_References (list of notes about the observed parameters and references used to derive each entry). ( Ordered by the variable Eruption_Number starting with the first eruption in the database.)

Latitude: Latitude of each emission from -90 to +90 (Ordered by the variable Eruption_Number starting with the first eruption in the database.)

Longitude: Longitude of each emission degrees East (Ordered by the variable Eruption_Number starting with the first eruption in the database.)

VEI: Volcanic Explosively Index of each emission based on Global Volcanism Program Database (Ordered by the variable Eruption_Number starting with the first eruption in the database.)

Total_Emission_of_SO2_Tg: Total emission of SO2 in teragram for the specific database entry (Ordered by the variable Eruption_Number starting with the first eruption in the database.)

Maximum_Injection_Height_km: Maximum height of each emission in kilometers above sea level. (Ordered by the variable Eruption_Number starting with the first eruption in the database.)

Minimum_Injection_Height_km: Minimum height of each emission in kilometers above sea level. (Ordered by the variable Eruption_Number starting with the first eruption in the database.)

Month_of_Emission: The month in which the emission is thought to have occurred. (Ordered by the variable Eruption_Number starting with the first eruption in the database.)

Year_of_Emission: The Year in which the emission is thought to have occurred. (Ordered by the variable Eruption_Number starting with the first eruption in the database.)

Medicine Lake volcano (MLV) is a very large shield-shaped volcano located in northern California where it forms part of the southern Cascade Range of volcanoes. It has erupted hundreds of times during its half-million-year history, including nine times during the past 5,200 years, most recently 950 years ago. This record represents one of the highest eruptive frequencies among Cascade volcanoes and includes a wide variety of different types of lava flows and at least two explosive eruptions that produced widespread fallout. Compared to those of a typical Cascade stratovolcano, eruptive vents at MLV are widely distributed, extending 55 km north-south and 40 km east-west. The total area covered by MLV lavas is >2,000 square kilometers, about 10 times the area of Mount St. Helens, Washington. Judging from its long eruptive history and its frequent eruptions in recent geologic time, MLV will erupt again. Although the probability of an eruption is very small in the next year (one chance in 3,600), the consequences of some types of possible eruptions could be severe. Furthermore, the documented episodic behavior of the volcano indicates that once it becomes active, the volcano could continue to erupt for decades, or even erupt intermittently for centuries, and very likely from multiple vents scattered across the edifice. Owing to its frequent eruptions, explosive nature, and proximity to regional infrastructure, MLV has been designated a “high threat volcano” by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Volcano Early Warning System assessment. Volcanic eruptions are typically preceded by seismic activity, but with only two seismometers located high on the volcano and no other USGS monitoring equipment in place, MLV is at present among the most poorly monitored Cascade volcanoes.

In 1926, the number of fatalities caused by the eruption of the Japanese volcano Tokachidake amounted to 144. In the most recent volcanic disaster in 2014, 63 people were killed. That year, Mount Ontake erupted unexpectedly. Since it is a popular tourist attraction, there were many people present who fell victim to the volcanic eruption. Japan is located on the Ring of Fire, and there are over 100 active volcanoes located on the archipelago.

The Smithsonian's "Eruptions, Earthquakes, & Emissions" web application (or "E3") is a time-lapse animation of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes since 1960. It also shows volcanic gas emissions (sulfur dioxide, SO2) since 1978 — the first year satellites were available to provide global monitoring of SO2. The eruption data are drawn from the Volcanoes of the World (VOTW) database maintained by the Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program (GVP). The earthquake data are pulled from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Catalog. Sulfur-dioxide emissions data incorporated into the VOTW for use here originate in NASA's Multi-Satellite Volcanic Sulfur Dioxide L4 Long-Term Global Database. Please properly credit and cite any use of GVP eruption and volcano data, which are available via a download button within the app, through webservices, or through options under the Database tab above. A citation for the E3 app is given below.Clicking the image will open this web application in a new tab.Citation (example for today)Global Volcanism Program, 2016. Eruptions, Earthquakes & Emissions, v. 1.0 (internet application). Smithsonian Institution. Accessed 19 Oct 2018 (https://volcano.si.edu/E3/).Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat is the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI)?VEI is the "Richter Scale" of volcanic eruptions. Assigning a VEI is not an automated process, but involves assessing factors such as the volume of tephra (volcanic ash or other ejected material) erupted, the height the ash plume reaches above the summit or altitude into the atmosphere, and the type of eruption (Newhall and Self, 1982). VEIs range from 1 (small eruption) to 8 (the largest eruptions in Earth's entire history).What about eruptions before 1960?For information about volcanic eruptions before 1960, explore the GVP website, where we catalog eruption information going back more than 10,000 years. This E3 app only displays eruptions starting in 1960 because the catalog is much more complete after that date. For most eruptions before the 20th century we rely on the geologic record more than historical first-hand accounts — and the geologic record is inherently incomplete (due to erosion) and not fully documented.What are "SO2 emissions" and what do the different circle sizes mean?The E3 app displays emissions of sulfur dioxide gas (SO2) from erupting volcanoes, including the mass in kilotons. Even though water vapor (steam) and carbon dioxide gas (see more about CO2 below) are much more abundant volcanic gases, SO2is the easiest to detect using satellite-based instruments, allowing us to obtain a global view. There is no universally accepted "magnitude" scale for emissions; the groupings presented here were chosen to best graphically present the relative volumes based on available data.What am I seeing when I click on an SO2 emission event?You are seeing a time-lapse movie of satellite measurements of SO2 associated with a particular emission event. These SO2 clouds, or plumes, are blown by winds and can circle the globe in about a week. As plumes travel, they mix with the air, becoming more dilute until eventually the concentration of SO2 falls below the detection limit of satellites. Earth's entire atmosphere derives from outgassing of the planet — in fact, the air you breathe was once volcanic gas, and some of it might have erupted very recently!Why are there no SO2 emissions before 1978?E3 shows volcanic gas emissions captured from satellite-based instruments, which were first deployed in 1978. NASA launched the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) in 1978, which provided the first space-borne observations of volcanic gas emissions. Numerous satellites capable of measuring volcanic gases are now in orbit.Why don't you include H2O and CO2 emissions?The most abundant gases expelled during a volcanic eruption are water vapor (H2O in the form of steam) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is typically the third most abundant gas. Hydrogen gas, carbon monoxide and other carbon species, hydrogen halides, and noble gases typically comprise a very small percentage of volcanic gas emissions. So why can't we show H2O and CO2 in the E3 app? Earth's atmosphere has such high background concentrations of H2O and CO2 that satellites cannot easily detect a volcano's signal over this background "noise." Atmospheric SO2 concentrations, however, are very low. Therefore volcanic emissions of SO2 stand out and are more easily detected by satellites. Scientists are just beginning to have reliable measurements of volcanic carbon dioxide emissions because new satellites dedicated to monitoring CO2 have either recently been launched or have launches planned for the coming decade.How much carbon is emitted by volcanoes?We don't really know. CO2, carbon dioxide, is the dominant form of carbon in most volcanic eruptions, and can be the dominant gas emitted from volcanoes. Humans release more than 100 times more CO2 to the atmosphere than volcanoes (Gerlach, 2011) through activities like burning fossil fuels. Because of this, the background levels of CO2 in the atmosphere have risen to levels that are so high (greater than 400 parts per million, or 0.04%) that satellites cannot easily detect the CO2 from volcanic eruptions. Scientists are able to estimate the amount of carbon flowing from Earth's interior to exterior (the flux) by measuring carbon emissions directly at volcanic vents and by measuring the carbon dissolved in volcanic rocks. Scientific teams in the Deep Carbon Observatory (one of the supporters of E3) are working to quantify the flux of carbon from Earth's interior to exterior.Do volcanic emissions cause global warming?No, not in modern times. The dominant effect of volcanic eruptions is to cool the planet in the short term. This is because sulfur emissions create aerosols that block the sun's incoming rays temporarily. While volcanoes do emit powerful greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, they do so at a rate that is likely 100 times less than humans (Gerlach, 2011). Prior to human activity in the Holocene (approximately the last 10,000 years), volcanic gas emissions did play a large role in modulating Earth's climate.Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes seem to occur in the same location. Why?Eruptions and earthquakes occur at Earth's plate boundaries — places where Earth's tectonic plates converge, diverge, or slip past one another. The forces operating at these plate boundaries cause both earthquakes and eruptions. For example, the Pacific "Ring of Fire" describes the plate boundaries that surround the Pacific basin. Around most of the Pacific Rim, the seafloor (Earth's oceanic crust) is "subducting" beneath the continents. This means that the seafloor is being dragged down into Earth's interior. You might think of this as Earth's way of recycling! In this process, ocean water is released to Earth's solid rocky mantle, melting the mantle rock and generating magma that erupts through volcanoes on the continents where the plates converge. In contrast, mid-ocean ridges, chains of seafloor volcanoes, define divergent plate boundaries. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge that runs from Iceland to the Antarctic in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean is one example of a divergent plate boundary. Earth's crust is torn apart at the ridge, as North and South America move away from Europe and Africa. New lava erupts to fill the gap. This lava cools, creating new ocean crust. All these episodes where solid rock collides or is torn apart generate earthquakes. And boom! You have co-located eruptions and earthquakes. To learn more about plate margins using E3, watch this video.Is this the first time eruptions, emissions, and earthquakes have been animated on a map?E3 is a successor to the program Seismic/Eruption developed by Alan Jones (Binghamton University). That program was one of the first to show the global occurrence of earthquakes (USGS data) and eruptions (GVP data) through space and time with animations and sound. The program ran in the Smithsonian's Geology, Gems, and Minerals Hall from 1997 to 2016, and was also available on the "Earthquakes and Eruptions" CD-ROM. E3 builds upon Seismic/Eruption with the addition of emissions data and automated data updates.How many eruptions and emissions are shown, and from how many volcanoes?The application is currently showing 2,065 eruptions from 334 volcanoes. It is also showing 360 emission activity periods from 118 different volcanoes. In addition, there are 67 animations available showing the movement of SO2 clouds from 44 volcanoes.How often do you update the data represented in the web application?The application checks for updates once a week. Earthquake data, being instrumentally recorded, is typically very current. Eruption data, which relies on observational reports and analysis by GVP staff, is generally updated every few months; however, known ongoing eruptions will continue through the most recent update check. Emissions data is collected by satellite instruments and also must be processed by scientists, so updates will be provided as soon as they are available following an event, on the schedule with eruption updates.Is my computer system/browser supported? Something isn't working right.To run the map, your computer and browser must support WebGL. For more information on WebGL, please visit https://get.webgl.org to test if it should work.Source Obtained from http://volcano.si.edu/E3/

The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program (GVP) is housed in the Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, in Washington D.C. We are devoted to a better understanding of Earth's active volcanoes and their eruptions during the last 10,000 years.

The mission of GVP is to document, understand, and disseminate information about global volcanic activity. We do this through four core functions: reporting, archiving, research, and outreach. The data systems that lie at our core have been in development since 1968 when GVP began documenting the eruptive histories of volcanoes.

Reporting. GVP is unique in its documentation of current and past activity for all volcanoes on the planet active during the last 10,000 years. During the early stages of an eruption anywhere in the world we act as a clearinghouse of reports, data, and imagery. Reports are released in two formats. The Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report provides timely information vetted by GVP staff about current eruptions. The Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network provides comprehensive reporting on recent eruptions on a longer time horizon to allow incorporation of peer-reviewed literature and observatory reports.

Archiving. Complementing our effort toward reporting of current eruptive activity is our database of volcanoes and eruptions that documents the last 10,000 years of Earth's volcanism. These databases and interpretations based on them were published in three editions of the book "Volcanoes of the World".

Research. GVP researchers are curators in the Department of Mineral Sciences and maintain active research programs on volcanic products, processes, and the deep Earth that is the ultimate source of volcanism.

Outreach. This website presents more than 7,000 reports on volcanic activity, provides access to the baseline data and eruptive histories of Holocene volcanoes, and makes available other resources to our international partners, scientists, civil-authorities, and the public.

The Global Volcanism Program relies on an international network of collaborating individuals, programs and organizations, many of which are listed below:

United States Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program (USA). The Volcano Hazards Program monitors active and potentially active volcanoes, assesses their hazards, responds to volcanic crises, and conducts research on volcanoes. The Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP) (with the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance) works to reduce fatalities and economic losses in countries experiencing a volcano emergency.

Global Volcano Model (Bristol University and the British Geological Survey, UK). GVM is a growing international network that aims to create a sustainable, accessible information platform on volcanic hazard and risk.

WOVOdat (Earth Observatory of Singapore). A collective record of volcano monitoring, worldwide - brought to you by the WOVO (World Organization of Volcano Observatories).

Integrated Earth Data Applications (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, USA). A community-based data facility to support, sustain, and advance the geosciences by providing data services for observational solid earth data from the Ocean, Earth, and Polar Sciences.

VHub (The State University of New York at Buffalo, USA). An online resource for collaboration in volcanology research and risk mitigation.

International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI). IAVCEI represents the primary international focus for: (1) research in volcanology, (2) efforts to mitigate volcanic disasters, and (3) research into closely related disciplines, such as igneous geochemistry and petrology, geochronology, volcanogenic mineral deposits, and the physics of the generation and ascent of magmas in the upper mantle and crust. IAVCEI has charged GVP with providing the official names and unique identifier numbers for the world's volcanoes.

National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAACs) The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has established nine Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers tasked with monitoring Volcanic Ash plumes within their assigned airspace.

These data files contain short periods of electrical data recorded at Stromboli volcano, Italy, in 2019 and 2020 using a prototype version of the Biral Thunderstorm Detector BTD-200. This sensor consists of two antennas, the primary and secondary antenna, which detect slow variations in the electrostatic field resulting from charge neutralisation due to electrical discharges. The sensor recorded at three different locations: BTD1 (38.79551°N, 15.21518°E), BTD2 (38.80738°N, 15.21355°E) and BTD3 (38.79668°N, 15.21622°E). Electrical data of the following explosions is provided (each in a separate data file): - Three Strombolian explosions on 12 June 2019 at 12:46:53, 12:49:27 and 12:56:10 UTC, respectively. - A major explosion on 25 June 2019 at 23:03:08 UTC. - A major explosion on 19 July 2020 at 03:00:42 UTC. - A major explosion on 16 November 2020 at 09:17:45 UTC. - A paroxysmal event at 3 July 2019 at 14:45:43 UTC. Each filename indicates the location of the BTD, the starting date and time of the file in UTC, and a short description of the three data columns inside the file (unixtime, primary, secondary). The first column provides the Unix timestamp of each data point, which is the time in seconds since 01/01/1970. All time is provided in UTC. The second column provides the measured voltage [V] recorded by the primary antenna. The third column provides the measured voltage [V] recorded by the secondary antenna.

Disaster-risk reduction has increased in prominence over recent years and particularly in the heavily populated Asia-Pacific region where high-impact natural disasters are experienced at relatively high frequencies. However, improving disaster preparedness and mitigation of volcanic hazards requires an understanding of the frequency and potential consequences of large volcanic eruptions. Recognising this, Geoscience Australia conducted a coarse risk and impact analysis to identify countries in the Asia Pacific most at risk from large eruptions (VEI 4 or more).

The frequency of large eruptions was determined using data provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program. This dataset is far from complete as roughly half of the volcanoes in the region have no eruption chronologies, the eruption record for the most part extends back only 400 years, and good records exist for the last 180 years. Thus, eruption frequencies calculated from frequency-magnitude plots represent absolute minimum values. Predictably, Indonesia has the most frequent large eruptions at 1/14 years. Following closely are Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Philippines with eruption frequencies of 1/25 years, 1/40 years and 1/50 years, respectively. A frequency of 1/120 years was obtained for Tonga.

An initial analysis estimated populations potentially impacted by large volcanic eruptions, where impact refers to possibility of death, injury, building damage, loss of access to basic services, and/or failure of local food supply. Indonesia and the Philippines have the highest level of risk with respect to volcanic eruptions, when expressed as absolute population impacted. Volcanic disasters affecting 100,000 or more can be expected at least every decade in Indonesia and once every few decades in the Philippines. Moreover, Indonesia is predicted to experience a volcanic disaster affecting at least 1 million people around once a century. All of the countries for which results were obtained have the potential for a catastrophic volcanic disaster (one that affects 1% of the population) at a rate of twice a century for Vanuatu, around twice a millennium for Indonesia and the Philippines, and every millennium for Papua New Guinea and Tonga.

As of March 2025, the number of eruptions of the volcano Sakurajima amounted to 85. The number of eruptions peaked in 2018, with 479 eruptions. Sakurajima, which translates to cherry blossom island, is an active volcano in Kagoshima Prefecture, located in the southern tip of the Japanese archipelago.

NCEI maintains a database of over 1,500 volcano locations obtained from the Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program, Volcanoes of the World publication. The database includes information on the volcano name, location, elevation, volcano type, date of the last known eruption, and the certainty of Holocene volcanism.

This dataset contains Volcanic Hazard Level for proximal volcanic hazards (e.g., pyroclastic flows, lahars, lava). Volcanic Hazard Level is derived from the Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program (GVP) volcano dataset, GVP eruption dataset, and the British Geological Survey LaMEVE (Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions) database. These data provide volcano location, maximum volcanic explosive intensity (VEI), and dates of previous eruption. Date of last eruption and maximum VEI are used to generate the Volcanic Hazard Level, which is assigned to the area within 100km radius of the volcano. This dataset does not include data for hazard from volcanic ash.

It is well known that explosive volcanic eruptions pose serious hazards to local communities and may have worldwide impacts. However, the products of explosive eruptions on volcanic ocean islands are almost inevitably incompletely preserved as a significant portion of the erupted material is deposited into the ocean, thereby impeding our ability to accurately reconstruct past events, determine eruptive source parameters and ultimately assess the associated hazards. Sete Cidades is the westernmost central volcano of São Miguel Island, Azores. Although currently dormant, it has been the most active volcano on the island in the last 5 ky, with at least 17 trachytic explosive eruptions, some of which sub-Plinian, that took place inside the summit caldera. The last paroxysmal explosive eruption took place at ∼16 ka, enlarging the caldera to its present dimensions, and is recorded by the Santa Bárbara Formation. We here present evidence of a mid-distal deposit (>25 km from the vent) that can be correlated with the proximal (on Sete Cidades volcanic edifice) pumice fall deposit of the Santa Bárbara Formation based on deposit characteristics, textural features and geochemistry. This is the first evidence of a decimeter-thick deposit of Sete Cidades volcano in the central part of São Miguel Island, which allows to constrain eruptive source parameters and wind conditions. Given the predominant winds blowing from westerly directions, Sete Cidades is considered the most hazardous volcano for the entire island of São Miguel with its current population of >137,000 inhabitants. Most critically, the main harbor, only airport and hospital are located in the capital city of Ponta Delgada, ∼12 km SE from Sete Cidades caldera. In case of a future explosive eruption, under westerly blowing wind conditions, the impact on São Miguel could be catastrophic, with long-term economic consequences.

Tsunamis can be produced from volcanoes in a number of ways. During a volcanic eruption, hot fast moving bodies of gas and rock (known as pyroclastic flows) can travel into the ocean, pushing the water outwards and creating a tsunami. In other eruptions, the volcano may collapse inwards or produce large landslides, both of which can cause tsunamis.

More than 90 volcanic tsunamis have been recorded worldwide in the last 250 years.

The 1883 Krakatau eruption in Indonesia caused tens of thousands of deaths, including 77 about 800 kilometres away from the eruption. The effect of the tsunami was reported up to 10 kilometres inland and one large ship was raised 10m above sea level and carried 3 kilometres inland.