U.S. volcanoes at elevated alert levels

At a glance

Publisher

U.S. Geological Survey · homepage

Category

Disasters & emergency management

Jurisdiction

United States (federal)

Publisher updates

Whenever an observatory issues a notice; monitor hourly

SourceFinch checks

Hourly by default

Records per run

4 in the latest run

Record key

vnum

Acquired from

Publisher's public API: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/api/volcano/getElevatedVolcanoes

Recipe

v1.0.0, approved October 12, 2026

Verified since

October 12, 2026

Last green run

October 12, 2026

What the data contains

The USGS Volcano Hazards Program and its observatories (Alaska, Cascades, California, Hawaii, Yellowstone and the Northern Mariana Islands) assign each monitored volcano a ground-based volcano alert level (NORMAL, ADVISORY, WATCH or WARNING) and an aviation color code (GREEN, YELLOW, ORANGE or RED). The Hazard Notification System publishes the volcanoes currently above normal as a public JSON list. This source reads that list hourly and makes one record per elevated volcano, keyed by its Smithsonian volcano number, with the volcano's name, observatory, color code, alert level, the identifier, type and send time of the latest notice, and a link to the notice. A monitor reports a volcano becoming elevated, a change of color code or alert level, each new notice, and a volcano dropping off the list when it returns to normal. The list is normally short (a handful of volcanoes) and has not been empty in recent years, but would be empty if every monitored volcano returned to normal. Notice texts are not fetched. The data contains no personal data. SourceFinch is independent of the USGS.

Fields and types

Every record has these fields. The key field vnum identifies a record across runs, so changes are reported field by field.

Sample output

The first 4 of 4 records from SourceFinch's own run on October 12, 2026, exactly as delivered.

[
  {
    "vnum": "311120",
    "color_code": "ORANGE",
    "notice_url": "https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-10-12T18:56:41+00:00",
    "alert_level": "WATCH",
    "notice_type": "DU",
    "observatory": "Alaska Volcano Observatory",
    "volcano_name": "Great Sitkin",
    "notice_sent_at": "2026-10-12T19:02:18",
    "observatory_code": "avo",
    "notice_identifier": "DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-10-12T18:56:41+00:00"
  },
  {
    "vnum": "311360",
    "color_code": "YELLOW",
    "notice_url": "https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-10-12T18:56:41+00:00",
    "alert_level": "ADVISORY",
    "notice_type": "DU",
    "observatory": "Alaska Volcano Observatory",
    "volcano_name": "Shishaldin",
    "notice_sent_at": "2026-10-12T19:02:18",
    "observatory_code": "avo",
    "notice_identifier": "DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-10-12T18:56:41+00:00"
  },
  {
    "vnum": "332010",
    "color_code": "ORANGE",
    "notice_url": "https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-10-12T18:48:12+00:00",
    "alert_level": "WATCH",
    "notice_type": "DU",
    "observatory": "Hawaiian Volcano Observatory",
    "volcano_name": "Kilauea",
    "notice_sent_at": "2026-10-12T19:50:45",
    "observatory_code": "hvo",
    "notice_identifier": "DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-10-12T18:48:12+00:00"
  },
  {
    "vnum": "284141",
    "color_code": "YELLOW",
    "notice_url": "https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-NMI-2026-10-08T23:30:10+00:00",
    "alert_level": "ADVISORY",
    "notice_type": "WU",
    "observatory": "Northern Mariana Islands",
    "volcano_name": "Ahyi Seamount",
    "notice_sent_at": "2026-10-08T23:31:51",
    "observatory_code": "nmi",
    "notice_identifier": "DOI-USGS-NMI-2026-10-08T23:30:10+00:00"
  }
]

Evidence behind every value

• Each run keeps the publisher's exact response, hashed with SHA-256. This sample came from a response with hash c7cba56429a5e0f595fb2d42d4a9f4ba554a4cdcf52096b558db224cef21ee48.
• Every value records where it came from in that response: a JSON Pointer into the retained capture.
• Each run gets a signed manifest (Ed25519) timestamped by an RFC 3161 authority: this run's manifest hash is 834b4a634e44f34cdb3904208d877a9ca7bbd53332c4fc35d15e9cc62855439c, timestamped October 12, 2026.
• The compliance state at capture is recorded with the evidence: robots.txt hash and verdict, AI-preference signals, crawler identity and the usage rights below.
• Download any run as an evidence bundle (WACZ) and check it offline, without trusting SourceFinch: sourcefinch verify-bundle run.wacz.

Terms posture and usage rights

USGS-authored data and information are in the U.S. public domain; the USGS asks for credit. Third-party copyrighted materials, images and trademarks have separate restrictions; this source reads only the alert-status list. volcanoes.usgs.gov serves no robots.txt (HTTP 404), which RFC 9309 treats as allowing access, and the list needs no key.

U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program. This product is independent of and is not endorsed by USGS.

Usage rights travel with every record SourceFinch delivers (API, exports, webhooks and evidence bundles). They are our documented understanding of the publisher's stated terms, not legal advice.

Reliability

Runs, last 30 days

1

Green

100%

Failed

0

Median run time

0.7 s

Latest run

success, October 12, 2026

Measured on completed runs of this recipe version across SourceFinch, anonymized, within a rolling 30-day window. First successful observation: October 12, 2026. A new recipe has only the history collected since that date; this is not a 30-day uptime guarantee.

Use it

Every surface creates the same monitor from this Verified recipe. Monitors keep record history, report field-level changes and deliver by webhook, export or email. You confirm you have the right to collect the source (rights: true).

{
  "schema": "sourcefinch/source@1",
  "name": "U.S. volcanoes at elevated alert levels",
  "url": "https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/api/volcano/getElevatedVolcanoes",
  "recipe": {
    "mode": "http",
    "format": "json",
    "items": "[*]",
    "fields": {
      "vnum": "vnum",
      "color_code": "color_code",
      "notice_url": "notice_url",
      "alert_level": "alert_level",
      "notice_type": "notice_type_cd",
      "observatory": "obs_fullname",
      "volcano_name": "volcano_name",
      "notice_sent_at": "sent_utc",
      "observatory_code": "obs_abbr",
      "notice_identifier": "notice_identifier"
    },
    "required": [
      "vnum",
      "volcano_name",
      "alert_level"
    ],
    "types": {
      "notice_sent_at": "datetime"
    }
  },
  "schedule": "hourly",
  "key_field": "vnum"
}

{
  "name": "U.S. volcanoes at elevated alert levels",
  "url": "https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/api/volcano/getElevatedVolcanoes",
  "recipe": {
    "mode": "http",
    "format": "json",
    "items": "[*]",
    "fields": {
      "vnum": "vnum",
      "color_code": "color_code",
      "notice_url": "notice_url",
      "alert_level": "alert_level",
      "notice_type": "notice_type_cd",
      "observatory": "obs_fullname",
      "volcano_name": "volcano_name",
      "notice_sent_at": "sent_utc",
      "observatory_code": "obs_abbr",
      "notice_identifier": "notice_identifier"
    },
    "required": [
      "vnum",
      "volcano_name",
      "alert_level"
    ],
    "types": {
      "notice_sent_at": "datetime"
    }
  },
  "key_field": "vnum",
  "schedule": "hourly",
  "rights": true,
  "catalog": {
    "slug": "usgs-elevated-volcano-alerts",
    "version_id": "7515d19c-acfd-4c06-9ce0-ef37be89ee81"
  }
}

# the Verified entry (fields, recipe, sample, terms) as JSON
curl https://sourcefinch.com/v1/catalog/usgs-elevated-volcano-alerts -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOURCEFINCH_API_KEY"

# create the monitor from source.json (below)
curl -X POST https://sourcefinch.com/v1/sources \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOURCEFINCH_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -d @source.json

# then run it now (later runs follow the schedule)
curl -X POST https://sourcefinch.com/v1/sources/$SOURCE_ID/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOURCEFINCH_API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)"

sourcefinch login
sourcefinch catalog get usgs-elevated-volcano-alerts --source-json > source.json
sourcefinch sources create --file source.json
sourcefinch runs create $SOURCE_ID --wait
sourcefinch records $SOURCE_ID

import { SourceFinch } from "@sourcefinch/sdk";

const sf = new SourceFinch({ apiKey: process.env.SOURCEFINCH_API_KEY });
const entry = await sf.catalog.get("usgs-elevated-volcano-alerts");
const source = await sf.sources.create({
  catalog: { slug: entry.slug, version_id: entry.recipe.version_id },
  name: entry.name.slice(0, 100),
  url: entry.acquisition_path.endpoint,
  recipe: entry.recipe.definition,
  key_field: entry.recipe.key_field,
  schedule: entry.recipe.schedule,
  rights: true, // you confirm you have the right to collect this source
});
const run = await sf.runs.wait((await sf.runs.create(source.id)).id);
console.log(run.status);

claude mcp add --transport http sourcefinch https://sourcefinch.com/mcp

# then ask your agent:
"Use SourceFinch to monitor U.S. volcanoes at elevated alert levels: get_catalog_source usgs-elevated-volcano-alerts,
then create_source with its create_source_args (dry run first), then run_source."

Pricing

Each check is one run, whatever the number of records, and failed runs are free. On its default hourly schedule this source uses about 720 runs a month. It uses HTTP acquisition, so no browser runs are needed. See plans.

Guides using this source

• Space weather, volcano and earthquake alerts for operations teams

All guides

Related sources

• USGS magnitude 2.5+ seismic events — past day · also from U.S. Geological Survey
• USGS magnitude 4.5+ seismic events — past week · also from U.S. Geological Survey
• USGS significant seismic events — past month · also from U.S. Geological Survey
• FEMA disaster declarations · Disasters & emergency management, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

More from U.S. Geological Survey and in disasters & emergency management.