Did you know there are at least 1,350 active volcanoes around the world, and roughly 20 active volcanic eruptions on any given day? While many of them occur deep under the ocean – most volcanoes are found at the edges of the Pacific Plate, a horseshoe-shaped zone known as the Ring of Fire – occasionally, violent outbursts of smoke, ash and lava happen on land.
Read on to discover the world's most active volcanoes in recent years, from the peaks of southern Italy to the Galapagos Islands...
The most active volcano in the northern Chilean Andes, Lascar is a stratovolcano made up of six overlapping craters, with a summit of 18,346 feet (5,592m). The mighty peak has had frequent small-to-moderate eruptions throughout the last few centuries, but until very recently it hadn't had a major eruption for almost 30 years. On 11 December 2022, the volcano rumbled back to life, sending a plume of ash and smoke some 20,000 feet (6,000m) into the atmosphere.
Seismic activity followed the eruption, causing Chile's National Geology and Mining Service to upgrade the volcano to a yellow alert, and then a more serious orange alert. A three-mile (5km) perimeter around the volcano was later doubled to six miles (10km), but it continued to merely grumble. The volcano's 1993 eruption was so fierce that ash was reported 930 miles (1,500km) away in Argentinian capital Buenos Aires.
Located on an island off the southern coast of Sicily, Stromboli is considered one of the most active volcanoes on Earth and has been erupting almost continuously since 1932 – earning it the nickname 'Lighthouse of the Mediterranean'. It stands at 3,031 feet (924m) above sea level and its eruptions usually occur in small, mild blasts.
However, an explosion in October 2022 was anything but mild. In fact, it caused the partial collapse of volcanic material from the rim of the crater, leading to a three-minute-long seismic signal. Videos released by Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology show massive plumes of smoke and lava coming from the peak. Thankfully no one was harmed by the event, although a tourist was sadly killed by an eruption here in 2019.
Mount Semeru, a 12,060-foot (3,676m) volcano on Java, Indonesia’s most populated island, has been continually active since 1967 and is extremely hazardous. The volcano has been at least partially erupting since 2014, and on 4 December 2021 a major ash plume caused ashfall, pyroclastic flows and mudflows that were responsible for the deaths of at least 34 people. According to the head of Indonesia’s geological agency, the eruption was caused by heavy rainfall on the lip of Semeru’s crater, which led to its partial collapse.
Village streets filled with ash and mud, cars and buildings were destroyed and rescue teams searched for missing people as Semeru continued to belch ash and lava into the sky until the end of December. Eleven additional pyroclastic flows were recorded from 16 to 31 December. Up to 10,000 people were displaced from the area and taken to evacuation centres, and some would never return to their homes.
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In 2010, newsreaders around the world struggled to pronounce the name of the Icelandic glacier volcano that brought air traffic in Europe to a standstill. Eyjafjallajokull belched out huge ash clouds that hung in the air for more than six days and made air travel across Europe near impossible.
Although it’s too dangerous to walk on the ice cap that covers the caldera of the volcano, the 2010 eruption wasn't too violent. This means hikers are often keen to explore the rocky terrain on the 15-mile (25km) Fimmvorduhals ridge hike. Snaking between the Eyjafjallajokull and Myrdalsjokull glaciers, and the craters and lava flows formed by the 2010 eruption, the hike is equal parts intimidating and gorgeous.
One of the biggest volcanic eruptions in recorded history happened in 1883 in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra. The island of Krakatoa was destroyed and an ash cloud entered the atmosphere and circled the world. Anak Krakatoa, meaning 'child of Krakatoa', is a cinder cone volcano formed inside the original Krakatoa caldera. It only appeared in 1927, and as a young volcano it's of huge interest to scientists.
Since the end of the 20th century there has been sporadic volcanic activity at Anak Krakatoa, including in 2010 (pictured). But in June 2018 a new and more eruptive phase was observed, and in December it erupted. A huge part of the volcano collapsed and caused a tsunami that killed 426 people, with more than 7,000 injured. There were more, smaller eruptions through the first months of 2022.
Kilauea is in the southeast of Big Island and is the most active volcano in the world. Its most active vent is Halema‘uma‘u, the legendary home of Pele, the Hawaiian fire goddess. It's been 200 years since its last really explosive eruptions (scores of deaths occurred here in 1790) and in recent years eruptions have tended to be contained by the lava lake within the crater.
That all changed in 2018, when a series of eruptions between May and August devastated residential areas in the Lower East Rift Zone, and molten lava poured into the ocean at Kapoho Bay. The volcano has been sporadically active ever since, with multiple significant eruptions recorded in 2023.
Just 30 miles (48km) off the coast of New Zealand’s North Island, in the Bay of Plenty, White Island (Whakaari to the Maori) is a grumbling volcanic island of billowing steam. About 70% of the volcano is actually below sea level, so what you see exposed is the peak and crater lake. The rock's yellow tinge is from the sulphur.
Once a popular day trip destination, it's no longer possible to set foot on White Island/Whakaari, as in 2019 there was a major eruption and 22 people, mostly tourists, lost their lives. It was New Zealand's deadliest volcanic disaster since the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera. Since the tragic event, volcanic activity has declined, limited to white gas-and-steam emissions, but experts warn it could erupt again.
Located in North Sumatra along the Ring of Fire, the 8,530-foot (2,600m) high Mount Sinabung had been dormant for more than 400 years before it broke its quiet spell in 2010. Since then, there have been several major blasts, and in 2014, 16 people died after authorities allowed evacuated residents to return to their homes prematurely.
On 2 March 2021, the fearsome volcano spewed an enormous ash cloud as far as three miles (5km) into the sky, its first major eruption since the previous August, when it was placed on the second-highest alert level. Activity continued from April to June and then again in August and September, when gas-and-steam plumes were observed, as well as lava avalanches. Volcanic activity resumed briefly in May 2022.
Located around 140 miles (226km) from Mauritius, the island of Reunion is home to the Piton de la Fournaise (in English, Peak of the Furnace) volcano, which at 8,635 feet (2,632m) is the highest in the Indian Ocean. Reunion’s most visited attraction, it is also one of the world's most active volcanoes, erupting on average once every nine months.
The volcano erupted sporadically in 2021, 2022 and 2023. These eruptions are rarely explosive and usually do not do significant damage to property or local infrastructure, but roads near the volcano are periodically swallowed by slow-moving lava flows and have to be reconstructed once the lava cools.
The normally bright skies of the island of Saint Vincent and its Caribbean neighbours turned a murky grey when La Soufriere erupted on 9 April 2021. It was the first activity from the volcano in 40 years and only the fifth big event for the volcano since records started in 1718. The ash cloud reached 20,000 feet (6,000m) and saw residents in the immediate area evacuated.
A strong stench of sulphur engulfed the island, while the ash cloud caused a blanket of gloomy grey to loom over both Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and neighbouring Barbados (pictured), around 120 miles (193km) to the east. Two further eruptions later in the day on 9 April added to the poor visibility. No casualties were reported but up to 20,000 people were evacuated and it was months before some could return to their homes.
Pacaya is one of the most active volcanoes in Guatemala, located roughly 31 miles (50km) south of Guatemala City. Despite its high activity level, the 8,373-foot (2,552m) peak is popular with hikers when it's safe to visit, but that isn't always the case...
In May 2010, two local villagers and a reporter were killed and 100 homes were destroyed when the Guatemalan giant spewed lava, rocks and debris. There were more major events in 2020 and 2021 too, when the eruptions were characterised as 'strombolian', which means that the blasts themselves were fairly tame, but they threw out bombs of lava and burning cinders.
The 3,000-square-mile (7,770sq km) Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo is home to a quarter of the world’s critically endangered mountain gorillas. At the top of Mount Nyiragongo is the world’s largest lava lake, a churning molten-red lake of fire. The unusual fluidity of the lava makes it all the more dangerous to the people living below – more than 200 were killed and 120,000 left homeless in a devastating 2002 eruption, when basalt lava poured into the city of Goma at 37 miles per hour (60km/h).
On 22 May 2021, Nyiragongo abruptly erupted again, this time taking the lives of at least 31 people. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) reported that around 500,000 people were left without clean drinking water, partly as a result of damage to pipes and water reserves during the eruption. Thousands of households were evacuated to makeshift camps, and many were unable to return to their homes for months after the disaster.
One of Spain's Canary Islands, off Africa's northwest coast, La Palma is renowned for its volcanic landscape. Cumbre Vieja is normally a top hiking attraction, but in September 2021 the volcano erupted for the first time since 1971, spewing lava into the air and down hillsides. Around 3,000 buildings were destroyed and more than 5,500 hectares of land were affected, including banana plantations vital to the island's economy. A total of 6,000 people were temporarily evacuated as rivers of molten lava flowed out towards the ocean.
Scientists estimated that the volcano emitted more than twice the quantity of molten rock than it had in 1971. Sulphur and carbon dioxide emissions turned the crater yellow, orange and white. Volcanic activity lasted 85 days and it was called the most devastating eruption in Europe in 80 years, although, despite massive property damage, it mercifully did not directly cause any deaths or injuries.
After laying silent for more than three decades, in May 2015 the Galapagos archipelago's Wolf Volcano sent clouds of ash and trails of lava spewing into its surroundings. Luckily the Wolf Volcano is away from the main population centre on the island, and the lava flowed east and southeast rather than down the north slope, which is home to rare pink iguanas and giant tortoises.
The volcano erupted again in January 2022 when a colossal ash cloud rose more than 12,444 feet (3,793m) above sea level. Thankfully, no one was hurt in the eruption, although eight people working in the area were evacuated. Jaw-dropping aerial images captured a glowing orange river of lava slowly trickling into the ocean.
This photo is a still capture of a video released by NASA when a small, uninhabited South Pacific island known as Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai – originally two islands that became one in 2015 after an eruption formed new land between them – was obliterated by a massive volcanic eruption. Little is understood about volcanoes that erupt in shallow water and volcanologists have been analysing the extraordinary power of the blast.
The eruption began in late 2021, but it wasn't until 15 January 2022 that observers witnessed the largest volcanic eruption of the 21st century so far, with a blast so loud it was heard 6,000 miles (9,600km) away in Alaska. It triggered tsunamis in Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, New Zealand, Japan, the US and South America, and shot gas and ash 35 miles (56km) up into the mesosphere – that's halfway to space. At least three people are known to have died, and the island was left cut off from the world for more than a week.
The majestic Mount Merapi, which means 'Mountain of Fire', can be found in the centre of the Indonesian island of Java. Standing at 9,551 feet (2,911m) tall, it holds the slightly terrifying accolade of being the most active of all Indonesia's 130 or so volcanoes. In 2010, the volcano served up its worst eruption since 1872, killing around 350 people and forcing 20,000 more to flee their homes.
After several warning signs the volcano erupted in January 2021, catapulting plumes of smoke and debris into the sky and prompting local evacuations, before doing so again in August and again in March 2022, blanketing nearby villages with ash. It erupted yet again in March 2023 – an explosion so violent that it reportedly blocked out the sun, but mercifully caused no casualties.
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The highest active volcano in Europe, Mount Etna is a magnificent landmark on the Italian island of Sicily. Etna erupts several times a year and is actually a series of nested stratovolcanoes (conical volcanoes built up on layers of lava and ash) with four distinct summit craters. In February 2021, authorities temporarily closed the airport in Catania as Etna was sending ash and small stones into the atmosphere. These eruptions can make Europe's tallest volcano even taller – a six-month period in 2021 alone added almost 100 feet (30m) in height.
Around 50 episodes of activity were recorded in 2021, and the Sicilian government estimated that more than 300,000 tonnes of ash were cleaned up. Activity continued through 2022 and 2023, while in February 2022 a volcanic plume covered the ancient port city of Catania in ash. Catania's airport was once again temporarily closed, and the eruption was so huge that it was visible from space.
Now take a look at beautiful but terrifying volcanoes captured on camera