50 US Volcanoes

50 US Volcanoes Are Being Closely Watched

There are 169 active ones nationwide

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

The Pavlof Volcano's 2013 eruption as seen from the air near Cold Bay, Alaska.   (AP Photo/Alaska Volcano Observatory, Theo Chesley, File)

The ongoing eruption of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has brought fresh attention to America's other active or potentially active volcanoes—and there are more of them than many people think, including quite a few in the Lower 48 states, though eruptions aren't a major worry for states like Connecticut.


According to the US Geological Survey, there are no fewer than 169 active volcanoes in the US, including around 50 in six states that have been given the highest priority for monitoring. Alaska has the most volcanoes of any state, with more than 50, many of them in the Aleutian Islands along the northern part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire."

In the Lower 48, volcanoes are clustered in Western states including Washington, where Mount St. Helens is considered the most likely to erupt in the near future. Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming is being closely watched for volcanic activity, and there are potentially active volcanic zones as far east as New Mexico and Colorado. Volcanoes further toward the East Coast are long extinct, but it's not unheard of for new ones to "appear completely by surprise," the Times notes. In Hawaii, meanwhile, where Kilauea continues to spew lava, authorities say bookings are down and some cruise ships have decided to stay away, costing the tourism industry around $5 million in cancellations from May to July, the AP reports.