Photos: The Year in Volcanic Activity

SOURCE:The Atlantic|BY:Alan Taylor

Gary Miller / Getty People watch as Hawaii's Kīlauea volcano erupts on May 11, 2025, in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. Gary Miller / Getty A closer view of Kīlauea volcano erupting in Hawaii on May 11, 2025, in Kailua Kona. Arnold Welianto / AFP / Getty Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki erupts, pictured from Pululera village, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, on August 18, 2025. AFP / Getty A villager watches the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki from Talibura village in Sikka, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, on June 17, 2025. Etna Walk / AFP / Getty Lava flows across a snow-covered slope on Mount Etna on February 14, 2025. Etna Walk / AFP / Getty Lava flows down a slope on Mount Etna on February 14, 2025, tumbling onto snow-covered ground. NASA / Reuters A satellite image shows ash rising from the eruption of the Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia as it drifts over the Red Sea, pictured on November 23, 2025. Agu.S. Harianto / AFP / Getty A man looks at a pyroclastic flow during the eruption of Mount Semeru in Lumajang, East Java, on November 19, 2025. M. Patrick / USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists approach the south rim of Halema‘uma‘u crater to make observations at the summit of Kīlauea on November 9, 2025. This section of Crater Rim Drive within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was damaged in the 2018 summit collapse and remains closed to the public. USGS / ZUMA Press Wire / Reuters A researcher samples lava flowing from Kīlauea on April 22, 2025. Badan Geologi / AP In this photo released by the Geological Agency (Badan Geologi) of Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, lightning strikes as Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki spews volcanic material in East Flores, Indonesia, on August 1, 2025. AZZAM / AFP / Getty A woman and child look on at volcanic ash rising into the air during an eruption of Mount Ibu, near Duono Village in West Halmahera, North Maluku province, Indonesia, on January 15, 2025. Marco Restivo / Reuters Volcanic ash and steam rise from Mount Etna, near Milo, Italy, on June 2, 2025. Giuseppe Distefano / AFP / Getty This aerial view shows people standing near a flow of lava from Mount Etna on August 28, 2025. Yury Demyanchuk / Russian Academy of Sciences' Vulcanology Institute / AP Klyuchevskoy volcano erupts on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, on August 4, 2025, sending ash six kilometers into the sky. Gary Miller / Getty Hawaii’s Kīlauea volcano erupts on May 11, 2025, in Kailua Kona. M. Zoeller / USGS On December 6, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists monitored and measured the Kīlaeua summit eruption episode 38 from multiple vantage points. This photo was captured around 10 a.m. from the northwest rim of the crater, near the a livestreaming webcam, with a vigorous lava fountains under way at both the north and south vents. Johan Ordonez / AFP / Getty Fuego volcano erupts, pictured from Alotenango, southwest of Guatemala City, on March 10, 2025. Fabrizio Villa / Getty Mount Etna exhibits a strombolian eruption, with a volcanic plume rising from the southeast crater, on June 2, 2025, in Catania, Italy.

A crowd of onlookers, seen in silhouette against a fountain of erupting lava in the distance — Gary Miller / Getty
People watch as Hawaii's Kīlauea volcano erupts on May 11, 2025, in Kailua Kona, Hawaii.

A tight view of a fountain of lava erupting — Gary Miller / Getty
A closer view of Kīlauea volcano erupting in Hawaii on May 11, 2025, in Kailua Kona.

A column of ash and steam rises from the top of a volcano. — Arnold Welianto / AFP / Getty
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki erupts, pictured from Pululera village, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, on August 18, 2025.

A person stands on a street, while behind them a tall ash cloud rises into the sky from a volcano. — AFP / Getty
A villager watches the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki from Talibura village in Sikka, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, on June 17, 2025.

Glowing chunks of lava flow and tumble across a snow-covered slope at night. — Etna Walk / AFP / Getty
Lava flows across a snow-covered slope on Mount Etna on February 14, 2025.

Glowing chunks of lava tumble onto a snow-covered slope. — Etna Walk / AFP / Getty
Lava flows down a slope on Mount Etna on February 14, 2025, tumbling onto snow-covered ground.

A satellite view of a broad cloud of ash blowing across the Red Sea. — NASA / Reuters
A satellite image shows ash rising from the eruption of the Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia as it drifts over the Red Sea, pictured on November 23, 2025.

A man on a scooter looks at a huge cloud of volcanic ash billowing across a field behind him. — Agu.S. Harianto / AFP / Getty
A man looks at a pyroclastic flow during the eruption of Mount Semeru in Lumajang, East Java, on November 19, 2025.

Two people stand on a fractured and damaged road, looking toward a double fountain of lava erupting ahead of them. — M. Patrick / USGS
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists approach the south rim of Halema‘uma‘u crater to make observations at the summit of Kīlauea on November 9, 2025. This section of Crater Rim Drive within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was damaged in the 2018 summit collapse and remains closed to the public.

A person in protective gear leans close to an active lava flow, reaching out to gather a sample. — USGS / ZUMA Press Wire / Reuters
A researcher samples lava flowing from Kīlauea on April 22, 2025.

A volcanic eruption, seen at night, with several lightning strikes curling within the ash cloud — Badan Geologi / AP
In this photo released by the Geological Agency (Badan Geologi) of Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, lightning strikes as Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki spews volcanic material in East Flores, Indonesia, on August 1, 2025.

A woman and child look on at volcanic ash rising into the air. — AZZAM / AFP / Getty
A woman and child look on at volcanic ash rising into the air during an eruption of Mount Ibu, near Duono Village in West Halmahera, North Maluku province, Indonesia, on January 15, 2025.

A large plume of brownish-colored ash rises from the top of a volcano. — Marco Restivo / Reuters
Volcanic ash and steam rise from Mount Etna, near Milo, Italy, on June 2, 2025.

An aerial view of people standing near the outlet of a lava flow on the side of a volcano — Giuseppe Distefano / AFP / Getty
This aerial view shows people standing near a flow of lava from Mount Etna on August 28, 2025.

A distant view of an erupting cone-shaped volcano, among clouds — Yury Demyanchuk / Russian Academy of Sciences' Vulcanology Institute / AP
Klyuchevskoy volcano erupts on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, on August 4, 2025, sending ash six kilometers into the sky.

A fountain of lava blasts from a crater, then flows out in several small streams of glowing molten rock. — Gary Miller / Getty
Hawaii’s Kīlauea volcano erupts on May 11, 2025, in Kailua Kona.

Lava shoots into the air, arcing above a broader crater floor, in Hawaii. — M. Zoeller / USGS
On December 6, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists monitored and measured the Kīlaeua summit eruption episode 38 from multiple vantage points. This photo was captured around 10 a.m. from the northwest rim of the crater, near the a livestreaming webcam, with a vigorous lava fountains under way at both the north and south vents.

Bright streaks of lava erupt from the top of a volcano and splash on its slopes, seen at night. — Johan Ordonez / AFP / Getty
Fuego volcano erupts, pictured from Alotenango, southwest of Guatemala City, on March 10, 2025.

Ash and steam rise from the top of a volcano, with an aerial view of a city in the foreground. — Fabrizio Villa / Getty
Mount Etna exhibits a strombolian eruption, with a volcanic plume rising from the southeast crater, on June 2, 2025, in Catania, Italy.

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Photos: The Year in Volcanic Activity