Electronic tiltmeters have proven very useful in monitoring restless volcanoes because they provide relatively high-resolution and real-time information about ground deformation, operate in all weather conditions, and can be installed in high-hazard areas that may quickly become too dangerous to revisit.

Tiltmeters installed at Soufriere Hills Volcano by the USGS Volcano Disaster Assistance Team between 1995 and 1997 provided data that helped to correlate the changing rate of dome growth to seismicity and the generation of pyroclastic flows. Data from the tiltmeters allowed scientists to visit the volcano safely between pyroclastic flows.

In a typical installation of an electronic tiltmeter, the instrument is placed on a concrete pad at the bottom of a hole 1 to 2 m deep. Burial is necessary because tiltmeters are extremely sensitive to slight changes in temperature, and temperature measurements at the buried tiltmeter are critical so that temperature effects can be minimized.