A mile-wide undersea volcano called Axial Seamount and located 300 miles off the Oregon coast could erupt by the end of the year, according to recent forecasts that have recorded an increase in undersea seismic activity in the U.S. West Coast area. According to experts who are monitoring it, it is the “most active volcano in the Northeast Pacific.”
“The eruptions are quite consistent,” said Bill Chadwick, a volcanologist at Oregon State University OSU. Experts point out that Axial Seamount has already erupted three times in the past 30 years, and a recent study published in Nature has already identified several areas of magma beneath the volcano. The researchers based their predictions on data leading up to its last eruption ten years ago. In fact, the volcano currently has increased its activity with dynamics very similar to those that led to the tectonic openings that occurred just before its last eruption.
Meanwhile, OSU scientists who are constantly monitoring it with a submersible that collects images and lava samples have found that already as of this fall, the Axial Seamount has significantly increased its volume due to the accumulation of magma inside it.
“What is leading us to consider the possibility of an eruption in the next year and by the end of 2025 is the fact that the volcano is almost completely bulging at the same level that caused the 2015 eruption,” Chadwick explained. “So, all these signs indicate the final stages of accumulation preceding the next eruption.”
