Fig. 5

(A) Cumulative frequency of recorded lava flow impact events classified by region from 1 to 2022 CE. The inset box shows lava flow impact events occurring after 1800 CE, which represent ~ 71% of the total number of lava flow impact events. Lava flows starting prior to 1 CE are included in the cumulative count but not shown on the x-axis. (B) The proportion of cumulative lava flow impact events classified by region from 1 to 2022 CE. Etna lava flow impact events are highlighted. In 2022 CE, the greatest proportion of the recorded lava flow impact events is in Europe (47%; n = 73), followed by the Americas (17%; n = 26), Africa (15%; n = 23), Asia (12%; n = 18), and Oceania (10%; n = 15). Regions are defined based on the UN Geoschemes (United Nations 1999) location of the GVP country in the dataset, e.g., Hawaiian volcanoes are classified as Americas and Piton de la Fournaise, La Réunion, is classified as Europe. If Hawaiian volcanoes and Piton de la Fournaise were classified by geographic location (Oceania and Africa, respectively), for 2022 CE, Oceania and Africa would represent a higher proportion in the dataset, with 28% (n = 44) in Africa and 19% (n = 30) in Oceania. There are no recorded lava flow impact events in Antarctica