Alaska’s Aleutian Islands are part of the Ring of Fire, a seismically active belt around the Pacific Ocean. The subduction zones in that belt are home to most of Earth’s active volcanoes, so it’s not exactly common for three volcanoes to erupt at a time in Alaska, but, as one geologist told NBC News, “it does happen.” That geologist, Matthew Loewen of Alaska Volcano Observatory said so far it’s not bad out there, and the ash isn’t disrupting air travel. Great Sitkin, Pavlof, and Semisopochnoi volcanoes are erupting.
Another, Cleveland, shows signs of unrest, Smithsonian Magazine reports. Great Sitkin Island has two small villages. Pavlof is near a tiny city. Semisopochnoi is on an uninhabited island. Geologists are keeping an eye on all of the activity, but so far aren’t predicting danger to those communities. Semisopochnoi recently shot ash 10,000 feet into the air, Pavlof is emitting an ash cloud, and lava has been observed at Great Sitkin, the AP reports. (More volcanoes stories.)