The United States does have active volcanoes.
In fact, the United States is third in the world in the number of active volcanoes ever recorded, behind Indonesia and Japan.
About 1,500 volcanoes have erupted all over the world in the past 10,000 years, and about 150 of those were in the United States.
Today, active volcanoes are found in Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, and Alaska.
Hawaii is home to six active volcanoes. Mauna Loa has erupted 15 times since 1900 and is one of the world’s largest active volcanoes. Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes and has been erupting continuously since 1983.
Volcanoes in the Cascade range in California, Oregon, and Washington are less active but potentially more dangerous because so many people live nearby.
Active volcanoes in Washington are Mount Baker, which last showed signs of activity in 1976; Mount Rainier, which has been quiet for the past 500 years; and Mount St. Helens, which erupted in 1980 and caused enormous destruction.
Lassen Peak in California erupted between 1914 and 1917.
About 80 volcanic centers, each with one or more volcanoes, exist in the Alaska peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. On average, about one or two eruptions occur each year there.
One of those volcanoes, Novarupta, on the Alaska Peninsula, erupted in 1912 and spewed out 30 times the volume of magma produced by Mount St. Helens in 1980.
The volcano was the world’s largest in the twentieth century.
