Pavlof Volcano

Pavlof is the most active volcano in the Aleutian arc, with 48 recorded eruptions since 1762 — an average of one eruption roughly every 5.4 years.

Several of Pavlof's recent eruptions have begun with virtually no seismic precursors, transitioning from background quiet to full eruption in just hours — a major challenge for eruption forecasting.

Approximately 50,000 commercial flights per year cross airspace potentially affected by eruptions from Aleutian arc volcanoes like Pavlof, carrying millions of passengers between North America and East Asia.

Pavlof and Pavlof Sister form one of the most visually striking volcano pairs in the world — two nearly symmetrical, glacier-clad cones rising side by side above the Alaska Peninsula.

Despite being Alaska's most frequently erupting volcano, Pavlof has never caused a recorded human fatality — a testament to its extreme remoteness.

The 1906-1911 eruption included a north-flank fissure event that ejected large blocks and produced lava flows — the most voluminous effusive activity in the volcano's recorded history.

Cold Bay Airport, the nearest airfield to Pavlof, was originally built in 1942 as Fort Randall, a World War II military base — its runway is one of the longest in Alaska.

Pavlof's glacier-covered flanks ensure that virtually every eruption generates lahars (volcanic mudflows) as hot material melts snow and ice.

The volcano was constructed along a vent lineament extending from the Emmons Lake caldera, a much larger and older volcanic system at its southwestern base.

In 2014, Pavlof produced two separate VEI 3 eruptions in a single calendar year — in June and November — demonstrating its capacity for repeated rapid-onset activity.

Pavlof's summit vents have shifted position over time, migrating primarily between the north and east sides of the cone, but the volcano has maintained its remarkably symmetrical profile.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory monitors Pavlof around the clock using seismometers, infrasound detectors, satellite thermal imaging, and webcams — one of the most extensively instrumented remote volcanoes in the world.