Volcano·Guide
Lava fountain on Mount Etna at night – an eruption during which the national alert level, the alert phase and the aviation colour code can show three different colours at once

Volcano alert levels explained

Yellow on Etna, yellow in Iceland, yellow at Taal – and each time it means something else. Who assigns the colours, and what they mean for you.

Photo: Giuseppe Amenta · CC BY-SA 4.0

As of today

Every alert level we fetched this morning

Each row shows the level the responsible authority reports today, with scale, fetch date and source. What the colour means is explained below – a yellow level in Italy is not the same as a yellow one in Iceland or the Philippines.

GreenMount VesuviusCivil protection alert levelYellowCampi FlegreiCivil protection alert levelYellowMount EtnaCivil protection alert levelYellowStromboliCivil protection alert levelGreenVulcanoCivil protection alert levelYellowIceland – ReykjanesAviation colour code · since 2025-08-05GreenIceland – FagradalsfjallAviation colour code · since 2023-08-16openTeide – cable carCable car · since 2026-09-28YellowVillarricaSERNAGEOMIN technical alertGreenOsornoSERNAGEOMIN technical alertLowCotopaxiActivity per IG-EPN · since 2023-07-06 · checked by hand on 2026-09-22Yellow Phase 2PopocatépetlCENAPRED traffic light · since 2023-06-06 · checked by hand on 2026-09-22GreenKatlaAviation colour code · since 2024-07-29GreenSnæfellsjökullAviation colour code · since 2020-11-12GreenÞríhnúkagígurAviation colour code · since 2015-03-01Level 2Mount AsoJMA alert level · since 2026-09-01Level 3SakurajimaJMA alert level · since 2022-07-27Level 1TaalPHIVOLCS alert levelLevel 2MayonPHIVOLCS alert levelLevel 0PinatuboPHIVOLCS alert levelLevel 2Mount YasurVMGD alert levelVigilancePiton de la FournaisePrefecture ORSEC phase · since 2026-05-07 · checked by hand on 2026-09-23

Official alert levels, fetched automatically every morning – checked by hand where the authority offers no data feed · as of 2026-10-03 · How we check

Ten countries, ten scales

Why there is no single alert system

A volcano alert level is not a measurement; it is an administrative decision. Each country decides who assigns it, how many levels there are and what follows. That is why yellow means “closer monitoring, nothing closed” in Italy, “unstable activity” in Chile and “elevated unrest” in Iceland – and why the Philippines use numbers from 0 to 5 instead. Only the aviation colour code is the same worldwide, and it is written for pilots, not visitors.

What a level means for access is stated only where an ordinance or official text backs it. Where it says “does not govern access”, the level describes the volcano – someone else decides about trails and exclusion zones.

Italy: national civil protection alert level

Green, yellow, orange, red, assigned by the Dipartimento della Protezione Civile in Rome on INGV data, changed only after formal assessments. Green is the baseline. Yellow means “Attenzione”: the volcano is out of equilibrium, monitoring is intensified – nothing is closed because of it. Orange would be pre-alarm, red alarm with evacuation of the red zone. Etna, Stromboli and Campi Flegrei have been yellow for years; Vesuvius and Vulcano are green.

Does not govern access directly. On Stromboli, however, the mayor of Lipari sets the climbing limits for each level.

Sicily: alert phases on Mount Etna

Attenzione, Preallarme, Allarme – the operational phase of the Sicilian civil protection, declared by notice, sometimes several times a day, following the INGV early-warning system ETNAS. Attenzione: crater zone with a licensed guide. Preallarme: crater zone closed to everyone; cable car and 4x4 buses to about 3,000 m keep running. Allarme: everything above roughly 2,500 m closed and cleared. In August 2026 the national level stayed yellow while the phase went to Allarme three times.

Governs access to the summit zone – the only scale on this page designed for exactly that.

Iceland: the Met Office VALS

Level 0 green, 1 yellow, 2 orange, 3 red – the Volcano Alert Level System of the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO), published through an open API since October 2025. 0 is normal background, 1 elevated unrest, 2 heightened unrest without eruption, 3 eruption. Reykjanes has been at level 2 since 15 October 2025, Fagradalsfjall at 0. The IMO also keeps the aviation colour code – Reykjanes is yellow there.

Does not govern access. Closures are ordered by the police commissioner of Suðurnes with civil protection, based on the IMO hazard map.

Worldwide: Aviation Colour Code (VONA)

Green, yellow, orange, red as defined by the aviation organisation ICAO, set by the observatory and sent as a VONA (Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation) to air traffic control and the volcanic ash advisory centres. On Etna it is set by INGV, in Iceland by the IMO, in Hawaii by the USGS. The four definitions are in the flights section below.

Does not govern access. Red on Etna means ash in the air – and says nothing about whether the cable car runs.

USA: USGS Normal / Advisory / Watch / Warning

Four levels for ground hazards, assigned by the US Geological Survey and its observatories. Normal: typical background. Advisory: elevated unrest above known background. Watch: heightened or escalating unrest with increased potential of eruption – or an eruption under way with limited hazards. Warning: a hazardous eruption is imminent, under way or suspected. Kīlauea was at Watch/Orange in September 2026 even though the eruption was paused.

Does not govern access. Trails and closures are decided by the National Park Service.

Japan: JMA levels 1 to 5

The Japan Meteorological Agency issues five levels defined by the area affected: levels 2 and 3 concern the crater area, 4 and 5 residential areas. In practice level 2 means an exclusion zone of about 1 km around the crater (Aso since 1 September 2026), level 3 a 2 km zone (Sakurajima since July 2022). Level 5 means evacuation – it applied at Sakurajima for three days in July 2022.

Governs access indirectly: the exclusion zone follows the level. At Aso the crater viewpoint was closed from level 2 in 2026.

Philippines: PHIVOLCS Alert Level 0 to 5

Six numbers instead of colours, assigned by PHIVOLCS with a daily bulletin. 0 normal, 1 low-level unrest, 2 moderate unrest, from 3 rising eruption hazard, 4 and 5 hazardous eruption. Even at level 0 the Permanent Danger Zone stays closed – 6 km around Mayon's crater, the whole volcano island at Taal. In 2013 five climbers died on Mayon at level 0 in an explosion without warning.

Governs access: the exclusion zone is part of the scale and applies at every level.

Mexico: Semáforo de Alerta Volcánica

A traffic light with sub-phases, set by the civil protection coordination on scientific advice; the data come from CENAPRED. Verde: the volcano is calm. Amarillo phases 1 to 3: stay alert – from frequent seismicity (phase 1) through steam plumes, light ashfall and incandescent fragments (phase 2) to growing domes and strong explosions (phase 3). Rojo phases 1 and 2: danger, explosive activity up to extreme reach. Popocatépetl has been at Amarillo phase 2 since 6 June 2023.

Does not govern access directly; the 12 km exclusion radius has applied since 1994 regardless of phase. Paso de Cortés is the only legal viewpoint.

Chile: Alerta Técnica Volcánica

Verde, amarilla, naranja, roja – the technical alert of the geological survey SERNAGEOMIN. According to the published definitions, yellow describes unstable activity with observation and a recommendation to keep distance; evacuations belong to red. Only volcanoes above green are listed. Villarrica was raised to yellow on 4 September 2026 because of a rising lava lake; Osorno has been green since 2018.

Governs access on Villarrica: the Pucón municipal protocol allows crater climbs only at green.

Canary Islands: the PEVOLCA traffic light

Verde, amarillo, naranja, rojo, assigned by the Canary Islands government through the PEVOLCA plan, per island or area. Green: risk so low that no protective measures are needed. Yellow: anomalies point to a pre-eruptive period in the medium term. Orange: maximum alert, a pre-eruptive phase is under way. Red: eruption confirmed. Tenerife is green despite the 2026 earthquake swarms; Cumbre Vieja on La Palma has been yellow since 2021 because gas and ground temperatures are not back to normal.

Does not govern access directly. Trails are opened or closed by the island council – on La Palma only with PEVOLCA's consent.
Fissure eruption at Litli-Hrútur in Iceland in 2023 – an eruption during which the aviation colour code was red while visitors were allowed to watch
Iceland 2023: aviation colour code red – and thousands were allowed to hike to the lava field. The level describes the volcano; the police decide about the trail.

Photo: Giles Laurent · CC BY-SA 4.0

The most common mistake

An alert level is not an access rule

The colour says how restless the volcano is. Whether you may go up is written in an ordinance – by a mayor, a police commissioner, a park authority. Three examples from our daily pages.

Etna: the phase decides, not the level

The national level has been yellow since 26 June 2026. The Sicilian phase switched between Preallarme and Allarme that same summer, most recently to Preallarme by notice no. 13 of 22 August 2026: crater zone closed, cable car and 4x4 buses running. How high you can go is told by the phase, not the level. Etna today shows all three signals side by side.

Stromboli: yellow means 290 and 400 metres

Here the level is tied to access – via an ordinance. The mayor of Lipari adjusts the limits to the national level: at yellow, ordinance no. 16 of 5 May 2025 allows 290 m unguided and 400 m with a guide. At orange in 2024 everything above 290 m was closed; at red in July 2024 climbing was banned. The summit stays closed at every level. Today's status: Stromboli today.

Iceland: level from the IMO, closure from the police

The Met Office sets VALS and the aviation colour code; closures are decided by the police commissioner of Suðurnes with civil protection, based on the IMO hazard map and Article 23 of the Civil Protection Act. So Reykjanes sits at VALS level 2 while Grindavík has been open without checkpoints since 21 October 2024 and the Sundhnúkur craters stay closed. The level is in the API, the closure is not. Both on Iceland today.

Evidence: DPC press release of 26 June 2026 · Sicilian civil protection notices nos. 3–13/2026 · Lipari ordinances nos. 23, 31, 50/2024 and 16/2025 · notice of the police commissioner of Suðurnes, 31 July 2024. This overview does not replace any order given on site.
Explosion on Stromboli at night with glowing scoria above the crater – the volcano is at alert level yellow
Stromboli at yellow: climbing free to 290 m, to 400 m with a guide. The same colour as on Etna – a different rule.

Photo: kuhnmi · CC BY 2.0

Flights

The aviation colour code and what it means for your flight

The Aviation Colour Code is the only alert system defined identically worldwide – pilots cannot learn a different scale in every country. The observatory sets it and sends it as a VONA to air traffic control and the ash advisory centre (for Europe, VAAC Toulouse). It says nothing about the ground.

Green

Normal

The volcano is in its normal, non-eruptive state – or, after a higher level, has returned to it.

Yellow

Unrest

Signs of elevated unrest above known background levels – or, after a higher level, activity has decreased significantly but is still closely monitored.

Orange

Eruption likely or without ash

Heightened unrest with increased likelihood of eruption – or an eruption is under way with no or minor ash emission.

Red

Ash in the air

An eruption is ongoing with significant emission of ash into the atmosphere. This is the signal at which airports downwind cancel flights.

Catania: what red means in practice

The airport lies 30 km south of the summit. Red does not close it automatically – what matters is where the wind carries the ash. Drifting south or south-east, it closes airspace sector by sector; landings are throttled or diverted to Palermo and Comiso. In August 2026 the operator SAC counted around 1,900 affected flights, about 36 percent cancelled and 630 diverted. On 15 September 2026 the airport was closed until 10 pm; on 24 September only 5, later 10 landings per hour were allowed instead of 12.

Your rights under EU Regulation 261/2004

If a flight from an EU airport or with an EU airline is cancelled because of volcanic ash, that is an extraordinary circumstance: in 2013 the EU Court of Justice ruled in McDonagh v Ryanair (C-12/11) that the airspace closure after the Eyjafjallajökull eruption was exactly that. Consequence: no compensation under Article 7 (Article 5(3)). What remains: under Article 8 a refund within seven days or re-routing, under Article 9 meals, hotel and transfers – according to the Court with no temporal or monetary limit. If the airline fails to provide care, passengers may recover the amounts that proved necessary, appropriate and reasonable.

Sources: ICAO definitions of the Aviation Colour Code as published by the Icelandic Meteorological Office in its API · SAC, quoted in Il Fatto Quotidiano, 14 August 2026 · Catania airport according to ANSA, 25 September 2026 · Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Articles 5, 8, 9 · CJEU, 31 January 2013, C-12/11. Not legal advice; in a dispute, contact the national enforcement body.
Mount Etna at dusk above the sea near Augusta, a steam plume drifting south from the summit
The plume's direction matters more than the colour: drifting south as here, it puts Catania underneath.

Photo: Andrew Malone · CC BY 2.0

Quick answers

Frequently asked questions about volcano alert levels

What does alert level yellow mean at a volcano?

It depends on the country. In Italy yellow means “Attenzione”: closer monitoring, nothing closed. In Iceland yellow is VALS level 1, elevated unrest. In the aviation colour code it means unrest above background. In the Canary Islands it means anomalies point to a pre-eruptive period in the medium term – La Palma has been yellow since 2021 without any closure. Common to all: yellow is not an evacuation level.

Can I still go up Mount Etna at orange?

On Etna there are three kinds of orange. The national level orange would be pre-alarm – it did not apply in 2026. The aviation code orange is the normal state of a restless volcano and closes nothing. The alert phase Preallarme, shown in orange here, closes the crater zone; cable car, 4x4 buses to about 3,000 m and all tours below keep running. Only Allarme closes everything above roughly 2,500 m.

Will my flight operate at VONA red?

Maybe. Red means ash is rising into the atmosphere right now. Whether an airport closes is decided by air traffic control according to wind direction and ash concentration, often by sector and by the hour. On Etna, red closed Catania until 10 pm once in September 2026 and only throttled landings another time. At red, check your flight status early and allow a buffer.

Who sets the alert level?

Usually a civil protection authority on the advice of the volcano institute: in Italy the Dipartimento della Protezione Civile on INGV data, in Mexico the civil protection coordination, in the Canary Islands the government through the PEVOLCA plan. In Iceland, Japan, Chile, the Philippines and the USA the observatory sets the level itself. The aviation colour code is always set by the observatory.

What is the difference between alert level and alert phase?

On Etna the alert level (green to red) assesses the overall situation and rarely changes. The alert phase (Attenzione, Preallarme, Allarme) is the operational signal of the Sicilian civil protection, governs access to the summit zone and can change several times a day. In August 2026 the level stayed yellow while the phase went to Allarme three times.

What does VONA mean?

Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation – the message by which an observatory transmits a volcano's aviation colour code to air traffic control and the ash advisory centre. INGV publishes the VONAs for Etna on its website; we read them daily. A VONA is not a warning for visitors.

Does an exclusion zone apply even at the lowest level?

Often, yes. In the Philippines the Permanent Danger Zone stays closed even at Alert Level 0 – 6 km on Mayon, the whole island at Taal. At Popocatépetl the 12 km radius has applied since 1994 regardless of phase. On Stromboli the summit is closed at every level. Green or 0 only means the volcano is calm – not that everything is open.

How up to date are the levels on this page?

We fetch the levels above automatically from the authorities every morning at 6 am; each row shows fetch date and source. Where an authority offers no data feed (CENAPRED, IG-EPN, the prefecture of La Réunion) we check by hand and say so. Before you climb, always open the linked source as well.

Next

The daily pages

Etna todayAlert level, alert phase, aviation colour code.Stromboli todayToday's climbing limit: 290 or 400 metres.Iceland todayVALS, aviation colour code, Grindavík.Campi Flegrei todayYellow since 2012, plus the earthquakes.How we checkWhere the levels come from.

Sources · accessed on 2 October 2026