Volcanoes in the United States of America

The United States is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, which stretches for about 40,000 km around the Pacific Ocean. Here the tectonic plate of the Pacific collides with several surrounding continental plates and seismic tremors occur again and again. Most of the world's volcanic eruptions, which are also the most severe, occur in this zone.

Significant volcanic eruptions in the United States of America in the last 2000 years

The following list shows all volcanic eruptions of the last 2,000 years with significant damage. The column "VEI" stands for the volcano explosivity index, which represents the strength of the eruption from a geological point of view. This takes into account the height and volume of the rocks ejected. The scale ranges from 0-8, with the severity of the eruption increasing tenfold with each value. For example, a VEI of 1 means that the volcano throws lava and rock masses of 100,000 to 1 million cubic meters up to 1 kilometer high. From VEI 8, a volcano is considered a super volcano. Here, more than 1,000 cubic kilometers of tephra are thrown to altitudes of more than 25 kilometers.

The highest explosivity index in the United States of America reached in the review period was VEI 6 in 1912. The volcano Novarupta threw tephramasses of at least 10 cubic kilometers over 25 kilometers high. Such an intensity is normally only achieved every 100 years.

► Interactive mapThe most famous volcanoes in the USA are probably the Yellowstone volcano in Wyoming and the Kilauea in Hawaii. Both volcanoes are not very dangerous on their own, but as active volcanoes, they are very attractive for tourists. The natural spectacle in the Yellowstone National Park of the same name is particularly attractive due to the well-known geysers.

Hawaii, on the other hand, is about 5,000 km away in the Pacific and was created by volcanic activities. Kilauea has several craters and is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, but has not caused any catastrophic damage since 1790.

The majority of the volcanoes are located in the state of Alaska. The arch of the Aleutian Islands reaches from the northern end of the Pacific Ocean to Asia and lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire. The 160 islands were formed by countless volcanic eruptions.

All volcanoes in the United States of America

These statistics are based on datas from the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program (GVP), and the Significant Volcanic Eruptions Database of the National Geophysical Data Center (NOAA) / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS) doi:10.7289/V5JW8BSH. Several data have been summarized and translated.