Forty-six volcanos are in a continuous eruptive state worldwide, and 19 of them exhibited a change in activity or alert level this week.
Global attention has turned to several volcanos after they displayed signs of activity, including Mt. Etna in Sicily, which spewed lava into the sky over the weekend, and a volcano in Iceland, which has been showing increasing signs of instability since last week, leading to the evacuation of Grindavík.
The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program tracks current eruptions and publishes an updated Weekly Volcanic Activity Report every Wednesday night. The most recent report includes 19 erupting volcanos, which must meet a certain set of criteria to be listed on the weekly report, such as sparking an ash advisory, experiencing new activity, exhibiting a change in activity or showing a change in alert level.
The report doesn't include all volcanic activity, as more than a dozen volcanos that have displayed continuous eruptive activity for decades or longer are not listed in the report.
At least 46 volcanos are in a continuous state of eruption, as documented by the Smithsonian Institution, but many of those haven't exhibited a change in their status over the last week, meaning they weren't listed on the institute's Weekly Volcanic Activity Report.
People's figures are illuminated by the glow of the lava on March 28, 2021, on the Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland. A volcano in the area is threatening eruption.People's figures are illuminated by the glow of the lava on March 28, 2021, on the Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland. A volcano in the area is threatening eruption.GettyOpposed to last week's update, which listed three new eruptions, only one of the volcanic eruptions is listed as new this week. The new listing is the Reykjanes-Svartsengi volcano near the Fagradalsfjall fissure in Iceland.
Last week, the three new additions were the volcanos in Iwo Jima, Japan; Grindavík, Iceland and Kamchatka, Russia. The Iwo Jima volcano and the Klyuchevskoy volcano in Kamchatka, Russia, were not included in the Weekly Activity Report this week, given that they did not meet the criteria. The volcano in Iceland has exhibited several signs of instability—producing thousands of earthquakes and causing a swath of land in Grinadvík to sink, signifying that magma is moving toward the volcano in advance of an eruption. Its change in activity resulted in its addition to the Smithsonian Institution's weekly list this week.
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However, the program is quick to dispel fears that the number of erupting volcanos is a cause for concern.
"The number of volcanos erupting right now is normal," Global Volcanism Program Director Ben Andrews told Newsweek. "There are currently 46 ongoing eruptions, and over the past 30 years, there have generally been about 40-50 eruptions happening at any given time. Since 1991, there have been between 56 and 88 eruptions each year; 67 eruptions have happened thus far this year, and there were 85 in 2022."
Andrews said that media reports, as well as improved photos and videos of the eruptions, can draw more attention from the public.
Regardless of the normality, several erupting volcanos have captured global attention. Photos, videos and livestreams of the active volcanos have spread rampantly across social media, displaying volcanos that are smoking, spewing ash, or at times, expelling lava.
