Mount Edgecumbe Hoax

Date: April 1, 1974 • Location: Sitka, United States

A man ignited tires in the crater of Mount Edgecumbe, prompting a false eruption scare later revealed as an April Fools' hoax.

Mount Edgecumbe is a dormant stratovolcano located at the southern end of Kruzof Island, Alaska, about 15 miles (24 km) west of Sitka. The volcano has been dormant for over 800 years. Mount Edgecumbe is about 9.9 miles (16 km) east of the Queen Charlotte Fault that separates the North American and Pacific Plates, and is the highest point in the Mount Edgecumbe volcanic field, an area of about 100 square miles (260 km2) on Kruzof Island that also includes Crater Ridge and Shell Mountain.