Steps
- Treat this catalog as a map of places. The Holocene snapshot lists volcanoes. It does not post alert levels, aviation codes, or evacuation orders.
- For a U.S. volcano, use USGS notices. Observatory statements are the status report. A last-eruption year in our table is not that statement.
- If authorities tell you to leave, leave. Evacuation orders come from local and national agencies. This site will not contradict them and will not invent one.
- Use VEI only after scientists have sized an eruption. The index compares eruptions that already have a volume and a description. Choosing a VEI on the explorer does not predict the next eruption.
What this is not
These steps are protective actions drawn from the cited agency pages. They are not a prediction that an earthquake, tsunami, or eruption will happen at a place you choose. Practice them the way you would practice a fire drill.
The words on a U.S. notice
USGS ground alerts use Normal, Advisory, Watch, Warning, and Unassigned. Those words are defined on the volcano alert levels page. This catalog does not show the current word for any volcano.