(NewsNation) — An underwater volcano that is nearly 300 miles off Oregon’s coast is set to erupt very soon.
For decades, scientists have been monitoring the massive underwater volcano, and recent activity shows that it might be ready to erupt.
The volcano is known as Axial Seamount, and scientists believe it could erupt at any moment between now and the end of 2025.
Scientists record more than 1K earthquakes per day
Bill Chadwick, a volcanologist and research professor at Oregon State University, along with colleagues from the University of Washington and the University of North Carolina Wilmington, have been monitoring the volcano. They use sensors on the seafloor to watch Axial Seamount.
In late March and early April, researchers were recording over 1,000 earthquakes each day. Chadwick also said the volcano has been swelling steadily, which is a sign that it is filling with molten rock.
According to NBC News, Chadwick said, “This volcano is similar to the ones in Hawaii that erupt very fluid lavas. They tend to inflate like a balloon in between eruptions. At Axial, the seafloor is actually rising, and that’s a big signal.”
Underwater volcano poses no threat to people
Since this volcano is well off the coast and deep underwater, it won’t pose any threats to humans. It is about one mile underwater.
Chadwick reportedly said, “There’s no explosion or anything, so it would really have no impact on people. Even if you were out on a boat right over the seamount when it’s erupting, you probably would never know it.”
When Axial Seamount erupted in 2015, magma came out of the volcano. One of the lava flows was nearly 450 feet thick, according to scientists. Chadwick said that is “about two-thirds the height of the Space Needle in Seattle.”
In November 2024, Axial Seamount swelled to nearly the same height as it did in 2015, the last time it erupted. That swelling is a sign that magma is pooling underground with increasing pressure that could fuel an eruption.
The area where Axial Seamount is located is the most active in the Pacific Northwest, with the volcano erupting in 2015, 2011 and 1998. Axial Seamount is also the most monitored underwater volcano.
