Geography of the Northern Mariana Islands

The northern islands are volcanic, with active volcanoes on Anatahan, Pagan and Agrihan.

Anatahan Volcano is a small volcanic island 80 miles (130 km) north of Saipan.

Anatahan began erupting suddenly from its east crater on May 10, 2003, at about 6 p.m. local time (08:00 UTC).

On April 6, 2005, approximately 50,000 cubic meters (1,800,000 cu ft) of ash and rock were ejected, causing a large, black cloud to drift south over Saipan and Tinian.

The islands have a tropical marine climate moderated by seasonal northeast trade winds.

Map of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Asuncion Island .
The Marianas Trench, with some of deepest ocean on the planet wraps around the Northern Mariana's and is National Marine Monument since 2009