Yellowstone
United States · Caldera · 44.43, -110.67 · volcano number 325010
Nothing above background is currently reported at this system. For a volcano outside the United States and Japan that means only that it is not in the Smithsonian's weekly report, not that it is quiet.
What this system is
| Type | Caldera |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Position | 44.43, -110.67 |
| Why it is on this list | named supereruption |
Recorded history
NOAA's hazard records hold one significant earthquake and one significant eruption at or within 40 km of this volcano since 1959.
The deadliest was the 18 August 1959 magnitude 7.2 earthquake (Montana: Hebgen Lake), which killed 28 people.
The most recent entry is the 9 June 2016 eruption (Yellowstone, US-Wyoming), which killed one person.
Across the entries that record a death toll, 29 people died.
| Date | What | Where | Toll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 August 1959 | magnitude 7.2 earthquake | Montana: Hebgen Lake | 28 dead, $11 million damage |
| 9 June 2016 | eruption | Yellowstone, US-Wyoming | 1 dead |
A dash means NOAA recorded no number, not that nobody died. Older entries are fewer because fewer were written down, not because less happened.
Recorded history: NOAA NCEI hazard databases, public domain, retrieved 2026-10-22.
What this rests on
Volcanism here has run through three cycles since 2.15 million years ago, each ending in a large ignimbrite eruption and a caldera collapse; the first produced the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff about 2.08 million years ago.
That sentence is ours. A fuller account, with its own citations, is where to check it. It was a quotation from the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program until September 2026, when their terms stopped being compatible with a site carrying advertising.
Who watches it
USGS Yellowstone Volcano Observatory monitors this system and publishes its alert level. https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/yvo
In an eruption, that observatory is the authority. This page follows it; it does not compete with it.
Other systems tracked
Where these numbers come from
National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Volcanic Eruptions Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5JW8BSH Licence: NOAA NCEI: access to this dataset is unrestricted (US federal work, public domain). Positions and eruption records come from that database; the sentence above is ours. Alert levels come from the publishing observatory.