Volcanic eruptions threaten far more than lava. Learn about ashfall, evacuation and how to protect your family if you live near an active volcano.
A volcanic eruption is a natural disaster that can reshape a landscape and disrupt life across a wide region, far beyond the mountain itself. Lava draws the eye, but the hazards that travel reach the most people. These include ashfall, pyroclastic flows, toxic gases, and the mudflows called lahars. Volcanic ash is not the soft ash of a campfire. It is fine, abrasive rock and glass, and it can affect lungs, engines, water, and roofs miles from the crater.
A volcanic eruption matters to families who live near an active volcano. It also matters to households downwind, who may see ash without ever seeing the mountain, and to anyone who travels to a volcanic region. Proximity sets the plan. Close to the volcano, evacuation leads. Farther away, the focus shifts to sheltering through ashfall and riding out the disruption to water, power, and travel. Volcanoes are among the most closely monitored natural hazards on earth. Rising activity is usually detected before a major eruption, and that warning gives a prepared family time to act.
Volcanic Eruption Guides
- Preparing: The guide to volcanic eruption preparedness explains how to ready your home, your supplies, and your evacuation plan before the mountain stirs.
- Locating: The guide to active volcanoes in the US shows where they are, so you can judge your own distance from the risk.
Start by learning where the nearest active volcano sits. Then match your preparedness plan to your distance from it.
