Volcano Information

    Pagan
    Volcanic Alert Level: UNASSIGNED Aviation Color Code: UNASSIGNED

    • Current Update, last updated Apr 28, 2009 14:39 ChST:
      Report prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey.

      Steaming at Pagan volcano has diminished and therefore the aviation color code and alert levels are being lowered to unassigned. There are no monitoring instruments installed on Pagan and thus we do not use the levels Green or Normal because we cannot say definitely that activity is at background. Monitoring is by satellite and ground observers.

      Access to the island may be restricted by the CNMI government. Contact the Emergency Management Office to get the latest information.
    • Volcanic History Overview: Pagan Island, the largest and one of the most active of the Mariana Islands volcanoes, consists of two stratovolcanoes connected by a narrow isthmus. Both North and South Pagan stratovolcanoes were constructed within calderas, 7 and 4 km in diameter, respectively. The 570-m-high Mount Pagan at the NE end of the island rises above the flat floor of the northern caldera, which probably formed during the early Holocene. South Pagan is a 548-m-high stratovolcano with an elongated summit containing four distinct craters. Almost all of the historical eruptions of Pagan, which date back to the 17th century, have originated from North Pagan volcano. The largest eruption of Pagan during historical time took place in 1981 and prompted the evacuation of the sparsely populated island. From the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.
    • Location: Mariana Islands, Mariana Islands

      Latitude: 18.13
      Longitude: 145.8
      Elevation: 570 m

      Recent Eruption: 2006
    • Hazard Assessments: Sako, M. K.; Trusdell, F. A.; Koyanagi, R. Y.; Kojima, George; Moore, R. B., 1995, Volcanic investigations in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, April to May 1994, USGS Open-File Report 94-705.
    • Link to monitoring data: NMI Web Site