The most active volcano in the northeast Pacific is preparing to erupt

Multimedia
  • 28-01-2025, 20:52
  • +A -A

    INA - SOURCES


    Earth bubbles and broils beneath an underwater peak called Axial Seamount, located 480 kilometers (300 miles) off Oregon's coast, causing it to swell in changing patterns that hint at impending strife.

    This has prompted scientists to predict the submerged volcano will erupt before the end of 2025.

    "Axial is the most active volcano in the Northeast Pacific which maybe some people don't know, because it's hidden under the ocean," volcanologist Bill Chadwick told Jenn Chávezin in the Oregon Public Broadcasting podcast.

    The shield structure of the submerged peak indicates the mountain was formed from thin lava. This means the eruption will merely crack open at the surface, rather than explode, allowing magma to ooze out and create new seafloor, so it luckily won't produce anything dramatic like a tsunami.

    Researchers who have monitored this underwater volcano since 1997 have recently observed the number of earthquakes in the vicinity soar into the hundreds per day.

    Axial Seamount's rate of seismic activity has increased steadily for at least 6 months, but "it can't do this forever", Chadwick and his colleague, University of North Carolina geophysicist Scott Nooner, explain in a blog post.