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Yasur Volcano

Updated: Mar 29, 2024 14:09 GMT -
stratovolcano 361 m (1,184 ft)
Tanna Island, Vanuatu, -19.53°S / 169.44°E
Current status: erupting (4 out of 5)
Last update: 13 Mar 2024 (Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report)
Strombolian activity at Yasur volcano
Strombolian activity at Yasur volcano

Yasur is the most well known volcanoes of Vanuatu and one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Yasur is known for its spectacular persistent strombolian activity that consists of regular small to violent explosions from one or several vents.

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Typical eruption style: persistent strombolian activity
Yasur volcano eruptions: ongoing since at least AD 1774 (but likely many centuries before)

Latest nearby earthquakes

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Background

Yasur, the best-known and most frequently visited of the Vanuatu volcanoes, has been in more-or-less continuous strombolian and vulcanian activity since Captain Cook observed ash eruptions in 1774. This style of activity may have continued for the past 800 years. Yasur, located at the SE tip of Tanna Island, is a mostly unvegetated 361-m-high pyroclastic cone with a nearly circular, 400-m-wide summit crater. Yasur is largely contained within the small Yenkahe caldera and is the youngest of a group of Holocene volcanic centers constructed over the down-dropped NE flank of the Pleistocene Tukosmeru volcano. The Yenkahe horst is located within the Siwi ring fracture, a 4-km-wide, horseshoe-shaped caldera associated with eruption of the andesitic Siwi pyroclastic sequence. Active tectonism along the Yenkahe horst accompanying eruptions of Yasur has raised Port Resolution harbor more than 20 m during the past century.
(source: Global Volcansim Project)

Yasur Volcano Photos

Latest satellite images

Yasur satellite image sat1Yasur satellite image sat2
Yasur Volcano Tours
15-day volcano and photo expedition to Ambrym and Yasur volcanoes, Vanuatu
15 days / 14 nights - Moderate
Price 4490 €
2-16 Jul 2024
Eruption of glowing spatter from Yasur volcano
Eruption of glowing spatter from Yasur volcano
Aerial view of Yasur with the exclusion zone and car park (image: GeoHazards)
Wed, 13 Mar 2024, 15:00

Yasur volcano (Vanuatu) - Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for 6 March-12 March 2024 (Continuing Activity)

On 8 March the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazards Department (VMGD) reported that activity at Yasur continued at a level of “major unrest,” as defined by the Alert Level 2 status (on a scale of 0-5). Recent visual observations and photos taken in the field indicated that explosions continued, though activity was confined to the crater. The report warned that some of the explosions may eject material that falls in and around the crater. ... Read all
Thu, 7 Mar 2024, 11:00

Yasur volcano (Vanuatu) - Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for 6 March-12 March 2024 (Continuing Activity)

On 8 March the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazards Department (VMGD) reported that activity at Yasur continued at a level of “major unrest,” as defined by the Alert Level 2 status (on a scale of 0-5). Recent visual observations and photos taken in the field indicated that explosions continued, though activity was confined to the crater. The report warned that some of the explosions may eject material that falls in and around the crater. ... Read all

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