Active volcano

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Template:Short description Template:Use American English

File:Map plate tectonics world.gif
World map of active volcanoes and plate boundaries
File:Lava entering sea - Hawaii.png
Kīlauea's lava entering the sea
File:Bárðarbunga Volcano, September 4 2014 - 15145875322.jpg
Lava flows at Holuhraun, Iceland, September 2014

An active volcano is a volcano that is currently erupting, or has the potential to erupt in the future.<ref name="www.usgs.gov">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Conventionally it is applied to any that have erupted during the Holocene (the current geologic epoch that began approximately 11,700 years ago). A volcano that is not currently erupting but could erupt in the future is also known as a dormant volcano.<ref name="www.usgs.gov" /> Volcanoes that will not erupt again, or is thought to never erupt again, are known as extinct volcanoes.<ref name="www.usgs.gov" />

Overview

There are 1,650 potentially active volcanoes around the world, 500 of which have erupted in historical time.<ref name="www.usgs.gov-2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Many active volcanoes are located along the Pacific Rim, also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.<ref name="www.usgs.gov-2" /><ref name=esa/> An estimated 500 million people live near active volcanoes.<ref name=esa>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Historical time (or recorded history) is another timeframe for active.<ref name=Decker/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The span of recorded history differs from region to region. In China and the Mediterranean, it reaches back nearly 3,000 years, but in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada, it reaches back less than 300 years, and in Hawaii and New Zealand it is only around 200 years.<ref name=Decker>Template:Cite book</ref> The incomplete Catalogue of the Active Volcanoes of the World, published in parts between 1951 and 1975 by the International Association of Volcanology, uses this definition, by which there are more than 500 active volcanoes.<ref name=Decker/><ref name="Dartmouth_Electronic">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:As of, the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program recognizes 560 volcanoes with confirmed historical eruptions.<ref name="GVP-FAQ-2021-03">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Countries with the most Holocene volcanoes, according to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program (Template:As of):<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  1. United States: 165
  2. Japan: 122
  3. Russia: 117
  4. Indonesia 117
  5. Chile: 91

Countries with the most volcanoes active since 1960 (Template:As of):<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  1. Indonesia: 55
  2. Japan: 40
  3. US: 39 (mostly volcanic areas in and around Hawaii, Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington State and Pacific territories)
  4. Russia: 27
  5. Chile: 19
  6. Papua New Guinea: 13
  7. Ecuador: 12

As of 2025, the following are considered Earth's most active volcanoes:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Other highly active volcanoes include:

  • Mauna Loa in Hawaii is the largest active volcano in the world. Its summit is more than Template:Convert above sea level, and Template:Convert above its base in the sea floor.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Holocene volcanoes with large populations within Template:Convert:

Michoacan-Guanajuato volcano in Mexico and Tatun Volcanic Group in Taiwan both have more than 5 million people living within Template:Convert of the volcano. Campi Flegrei in Italy and Ilopango in El Salvador both have populations of over 2 million people living within Template:Convert of the volcanoes. Hainan Volcanic Field in China, San Pablo Volcanic Field in the Philippines, Ghegham Volcanic Ridge in Armenia, Dieng Volcanic Complex, in Indonesia, and Auckland Volcanic Field in New Zealand all have over 1 million people living within Template:Convert of each volcano.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

By country

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Argentina

Argentina is part of the Andes Mountains volcanic belt along the western South American Pacific coast. These volcanoes are a result of subduction, where the Nazca Plate is subducting below the South American Plate. The following list are active/dormant volcanoes in Argentina:

Bolivia

Chile

File:Chaiten volcano in eruption.jpg
The venting lava dome taken in 2008 during Chaitens' eruption.

Colombia

Costa Rica

File:Arenal Volcano - Costa Rica - by Ardyiii.jpg
Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

Ecuador

The Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)

Greece

El Salvador

Guatemala

Source:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Honduras

File:Iceland's Fagradalsfjall volcano.png
Iceland's Fagradalsfjall volcano
File:Hekla Iceland 2005.JPG
Hekla, stratovolcano in Iceland

Iceland

Source:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:Eruption near Grindavík on March 16, 2024.png
A fissure eruption of the Svartsengi system on March 16, 2024 in Iceland.
File:Kerinci mountain.jpg
View of Mount Kerinci from the Kayu Aro plateau, Kerinci Regency, Jambi, Indonesia
File:Rinjani mount.jpg
Mount Rinjani on the Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia
File:Bromo and Semeru volcanoes, Java, Indonesia, 20220820 0717 9517.jpg
Mount Semeru and Bromo Tengger Semeru Park, East Java, Indonesia

Indonesia

Source:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Circular reference

Sumatera Island

Sunda Strait and Java

Lesser Sunda Islands

Sumbawa

  • Mount Tambora, a stratovolcano, the 1815 eruption was the largest in recorded history.

Sulawesi and Sangihe Islands

Banda Sea

Halmahera


File:Aerial image of Stromboli (view from the northeast).jpg
Aerial image of Stromboli (view from the northeast)
File:Etna-Italy - Creative Commons by gnuckx (4276734533).jpg
Mount Etna in Italy

Italy

Source:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:Japan, Tochigi- Nikko, Nantai volcano 2013.jpg
Nantai volcano, Tochigi-Nikko, Japan in 2013
File:Yotei Volcano on Hokkaido in Japan 20101025.jpg
Yotei Volcano on Hokkaido in Japan

Japan

See list of volcanoes in Japan for more information

Hokkaido

Honshū

Izu Islands

Kyūshū

Ryūkyū Islands

File:Colima Volcano Mexican Flag.jpg
Colima volcano in Mexico
File:Mexico-Popocatepetl.jpg
Popocatepetl volcano in Mexico

Mexico

Source:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:Mayon Volcano and the Sleeping Lion.jpg
Mayon volcano in the Philippines
File:Taal Volcano - 12 January 2020.jpg
Taal volcano, Philippines

Nicaragua

New Zealand

Peru

Philippines

Template:Further

Source:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Turkey

United States

Kilauea Fissure 8 cone erupting in Hawaii

Arizona

Colorado

Hawaii

Source:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Mount Hood in Oregon
Mount Bachelor, Oregon

Idaho

Oregon

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Mount St. Helens, Washington
File:Mount Rainier 7431.JPG
Mount Rainier, Washington

New Mexico

Washington

File:Mount Shasta from I-5.jpg
Mount Shasta, California

California

Wyoming

References

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