The volcanos were placed into one of five threat categories, with a further 39 in the high threat, 49 in moderate threat, 34 in low threat and 21 very low threat. One of the “high risk” volcanoes is the Yellowstone volcano in Wyoming, which last erupted 640,000 years ago. Volcanic expert Dr Christopher Kilburn, a professor at University College London, warned a large-scale explosive eruption from Yellowstone could cause “global devastation”.
Volcanoes from moderate to very high risk have the potential to cause national scale disasters, according to the study.
More than half of the highest threat category volcanoes were found to be in one of three states – Washington, Oregon and California.
The study said in these places “explosive and often snow-and ice-covered edifices can project hazards long distances to densely populated and highly-developed areas”.
Five of the most dangerous volcanoes are in Alaska, nearby to populated areas, economic infrastructure and busy air traffic corridors.
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READ MORE: Yellowstone Volcano: Explosion could cause GLOBAL devasation – VIDEO
Less concerningly, two more of the highest threat category are on an isolated volcanic archipelago in the Central Pacific.
As well as taking the top spot for number of “very high” risk volcanoes, Alaska also has the most “high” and “moderate” risk volcanoes.
The report reads: “In these categories, the generally more active and more explosive volcanoes in Alaska can have a substantial effect on national and international aviation, and large eruption from any of the ‘moderate’ to ‘very high’ threat volcanoes could cause regional or national-scale disasters.”
The report does not, however, say which volcanoes are most likely to erupt soonest.
The abstract reads: “The threat assessment places volcanoes into five threat categories: very low, low, moderate, high and very high.
“Within all five threat categories there are changes in relative rankings of volcanoes, and in a few cases, volcanoes move between categories owing to changes in our understanding of their hazard, unrest and exposure factors.”
Earlier this year, the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupted and 10,000 people had to be evacuated.
President Trump decreed federal funding for the disaster, providing both state and local authorities with assistance in recovery efforts in areas affected by the eruption.