Cascades Volcano Observatory/USGS

Mission Statement

The U.S. Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) strives to serve the national interest by helping people to live knowledgeably and safely with volcanoes and related natural hazards including earthquakes, landslides, and debris flows in the western United States and elsewhere in the world. CVO assesses hazards before they occur by identifying and studying past hazardous events. We provide warnings during volcanic crises by intensively monitoring restless volcanoes and interpreting results in the context of current hazards assessments. We investigate and report on hazardous events after they occur to improve our assessment and prediction skills, and to help develop new concepts of how volcanoes work