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Alamagan

Find U.S. Volcano

Alamagan is the emergent summit of a large stratovolcano in the central Mariana Islands with a roughly 350-m-deep summit crater east of the center of the island.

Quick Facts

Location: Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

Latitude: 17.6° N

Longitude: 145.83° E

Elevation: 744 (m) 2,441 (f)

Volcano type: Stratovolcano

Composition: Andesite - Basalt

Most recent eruption: 870 CE

Threat Potential: Moderate*

*based on the National Volcano Early Warning System

Summary

Alamagan
Alamagan

Alamagan is the emergent summit of a large stratovolcano in the central Mariana Islands with a roughly 350-m-deep summit crater east of the center of the island. The exposed cone is largely Holocene in age. A 1.6 x 1 km graben cuts the SW flank. An extensive basaltic-andesite lava flow has extended the northern coast of the island, and a lava platform also occurs on the south flank. Pyroclastic-flow deposits erupted about 1000 years ago have been dated, but reports of historical eruptions were considered invalid. From the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.

Publications

Volcanic hazards in the Pacific U.S. Territories

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa lie along the western side of the famed Pacific Ring of Fire. Here, the processes of active island and submarine volcanoes produce activity both underwater and in the atmosphere that poses potential hazards to the daily lives of residents and travelers. Since 2000, CNMI volcanoes have erupted six times, and one submarine vo
Authors
Gabrielle Tepp, Brian Shiro, William W. Chadwick

2018 update to the U.S. Geological Survey national volcanic threat assessment

When erupting, all volcanoes pose a degree of risk to people and infrastructure, however, the risks are not equivalent from one volcano to another because of differences in eruptive style and geographic location. Assessing the relative threats posed by U.S. volcanoes identifies which volcanoes warrant the greatest risk-mitigation efforts by the U.S. Geological Survey and its partners. This update

Authors
John W. Ewert, Angela K. Diefenbach, David W. Ramsey

Volcanic investigations in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, April to May 1994

A team of U.S. Geological Survey geologists, a seismologist, and technicians gathered new geologic, seismic, and deformation data in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Nine volcanic islands on the active East Mariana Ridge north of Saipan were examined between April 20 and May 3, 1994. In addition, a new radio-telemetry seismic station was installed on the island of Agrihan (

Authors
M. K. Sako, F. A. Trusdell, R. Y. Koyanagi, George Kojima, R. B. Moore