Discover real natural events happening around our amazing planet right now!
Real-time volcanic activity data from NASA EONET and the Global Volcanism Program
View on Globe →A volcano is a mountain with an opening where hot melted rock called lava can burst out from deep inside the Earth. An eruption can throw ash high into the sky and send rivers of lava flowing down the hillside. Some volcanoes have been quiet for hundreds of years before suddenly waking up.
NASA satellites monitor the heat signatures, gas emissions, and ground deformation of volcanoes worldwide. By detecting subtle changes — rising sulphur dioxide levels, warming ground temperatures, or swelling flanks — scientists can sometimes issue warnings days before a major eruption begins.
Not every eruption looks the same. How a volcano erupts depends mostly on how runny its magma is and how much gas is trapped inside it. Runny magma lets gas bubble out gently; thick, sticky magma traps the gas until it bursts free. Scientists name the main styles after famous volcanoes:
Most eruptions are over within a few weeks or months. Some last only a day. But some volcanoes keep erupting for years or even centuries without stopping for long. Their activity goes up and down — a big burst one week, quiet puffs of gas the next — but the eruption never really ends.
Stromboli in Italy has been erupting on and off for more than 2,000 years. Sailors used its regular glowing bursts to find their way at night, which is why it is called the "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean". Kīlauea in Hawaii erupted almost non-stop for 35 years, from 1983 to 2018.
That is why some volcanoes on the globe say they have been erupting since a date years ago. A long-running eruption is still one eruption, so its start date doesn't change while it keeps going. Scientists usually only count an eruption as finished once the volcano has been quiet for about three months.
NASA's MODIS and ASTER instruments detect volcanic heat signatures and glowing lava from orbit. ASTER provides very high spatial resolution thermal imaging of active lava flows, helping volcanologists map eruption extents in near-real-time without sending researchers into dangerous areas.
The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite tracks sulphur dioxide (SO₂) clouds released during eruptions. SO₂ is a key eruption signal: a sudden spike in SO₂ concentrations above a volcano tells scientists that fresh magma is reaching the surface, even when cloud cover hides the visual evidence.
EONET pulls volcano activity reports from the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program and the USGS Volcano Hazards Program, combining ground-based and satellite observations into a single live feed that Earth Explorer displays on the globe.
Earth Explorer displays active volcanic events monitored by NASA satellites and the Global Volcanism Program. Current eruptions, elevated activity, and new lava flows appear as glowing dots on the interactive globe, updated as new reports are issued.
View Live Volcano Events →Eruptions happen when magma — molten rock from deep inside Earth — forces its way up through cracks in the crust. As pressure builds, dissolved gases in the magma expand rapidly and push lava, ash, and gas explosively out of the volcano's vent. Some eruptions are gentle flows of lava; others are violent explosions that hurl rock kilometres into the sky.
Some eruptions don't stop for a long time. Stromboli in Italy has been erupting on and off for over 2,000 years, and Kīlauea in Hawaii erupted almost non-stop from 1983 to 2018. Scientists usually only count an eruption as over once the volcano has been quiet for about three months, so a volcano that keeps bubbling, puffing, and bursting stays as one long eruption. Earth Explorer shows when each eruption started, which for these volcanoes can be years ago.
Lava is magma that has reached Earth's surface. Its temperature ranges from about 700°C for slow-moving, silica-rich lava to over 1,200°C for fast-flowing basaltic lava. For comparison, your oven's maximum temperature is about 250°C — lava is four to five times hotter. Lava flows cool and solidify as they move away from the vent, eventually forming new rock.
A pyroclastic flow is a fast-moving avalanche of hot gas, ash, and volcanic rock that can travel at over 700 km/h down a volcano's slopes. Temperatures inside can exceed 700°C. They are the most dangerous volcanic hazard — impossible to outrun and destroying everything in their path. The ancient Roman city of Pompeii was buried by a pyroclastic surge from Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Large eruptions inject sulphur dioxide (SO₂) high into the stratosphere, where it forms tiny droplets of sulphuric acid that reflect sunlight. This temporarily cools the Earth's surface. After the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, global average temperatures dropped by about 0.5°C for two years — enough to affect crops and weather patterns worldwide.
Follow evacuation orders immediately. Cover your nose and mouth with a damp cloth or an N95 mask to filter volcanic ash. Stay indoors with windows closed during an ash fall — ash is heavy and abrasive. Avoid valleys and river channels where lava and lahars (volcanic mudflows) travel fastest. After the eruption, only return when authorities declare the area safe.
Earth Explorer uses NASA's EONET feed, which aggregates reports from the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program and the USGS Volcano Hazards Program. NASA's MODIS, ASTER, and OMI instruments provide satellite detection of heat anomalies, lava flows, and sulphur dioxide clouds, which are combined with ground-based reports to create the live globe display.