More than a dozen volcanos are erupting at the same time worldwide, and three new eruptions joined the list this week. The Smithsonian Institute’s Global Volcanism Program tracks new eruptions and updates its list of currently erupting volcanos on Wednesdays. The most recent update shows three new eruptions, bringing the list’s total to 19 eruptions at once. The list doesn’t include all erupting volcanos.
The new volcanic eruptions have some people voicing their concerns on social media. “Volcanoes erupt simultaneously in Italy, Iceland, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Philippines, etc. Below is a volcanic activity map of 2013 vs 2023.
Totally normal, right?” one person posted on X, formerly Twitter. It’s not actually uncommon for multiple volcanos to erupt at once. Experts were quick to dispel any fears. “PSA: Volcanoes are erupting all the time all over the world.
That’s normal. That’s what Earth’s volcanos do: they erupt,” volcanologist and science journalist Robin George Andrews posted on X. “And there’s enough of them that some will always be erupting at the same time. You know what *would* be weird? If absolutely no volcanoes were erupting.”
The Global Volcanism Program produces a Weekly Volcanic Activity Report of actively erupting volcanos, although it only lists volcanos after they meet specific criteria, such as sparking an ash advisory, experiencing new activity, exhibiting a change in activity or showing a change in alert level. Newsweek reached out to a geologist with the program via email for comment.
