Anchors that stay on the page
The buttons repeat the USGS Yellowstone Volcano Observatory summary. These are the only volume anchors that article states outright. Steps without a named eruption stay unnamed here on purpose.
| VEI | What the cited USGS article states |
|---|---|
| 0 | Non-explosive lava or dome. Most Hawaiian eruptions, unless there is fountaining or minor ash. |
| 1 | Small explosive component. This step spans two orders of magnitude. |
| 4 | Closer to 0.1 km³. La Soufrière 2021. Parícutin is VEI 4 despite 1.3 km³ because it lasted nine years. |
| 5 | About 1 km³. Mount St. Helens 1980. Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai 2022 was assigned VEI 5, called preliminary. |
| 6 | Near 10 km³. Pinatubo 1991. |
| 8 | More than 1,000 km³. Yellowstone Caldera, 631,000 years ago. Not in this site’s Ring of Fire rectangles. |
How to use the result
VEI describes an eruption that scientists have already compared. If a bulletin says “VEI 3,” read the tenfold step here and then read the observatory bulletin for the actual volume. Do not run the explorer backwards to decide what a volcano will do. The long version is the VEI guide. Profiles that match the named examples are Mount St. Helens, Pinatubo, Kīlauea, and Mauna Loa.