This underwater volcano off Oregon Coast is set to erupt in 2025: What to know
An active underwater volcano in the the Pacific Ocean off the Oregon Coast is predicted to erupt in 2025.
The Axial Seamount volcano is located nearly a mile beneath the sea approximately 300 miles off the Oregon Coast, just west of Astoria and along the Juan de Fuca Ridge.
The volcanic activity the Axial Seamount has recently displayed has scientists on their toes as it may be due for another eruption soon.
The underwater volcano has experienced three eruptions in the last 30 years, the most recent ones happening in 2011 and 2015.
According to USA Today, the volcano has 'erupted about 50 times over the last 800 years, about once every 15 years on average.'
Here's what to know.
Researchers at Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center are monitoring the Axial Seamount's activity in real time by using approximately 660 miles of undersea cables. Known as the Regional Cabled Array, it uses more than 140 instruments to constantly monitor activity.
Bill Chadwick, a volcanologist and research professor at OSU, said their observations have revealed a pattern.
'It's at or almost at that inflation threshold where it erupted last time. So, we think it's ready to erupt,' Chadwick told KGW earlier this year, adding its activity has picked up in the last year.
The pattern Chadwick spoke of shows rises in the seafloor that indicate magma is slowly accumulating and moving beneath the volcano's surface, causing an increased number of small earthquakes.
Even if the Axial Seamount volcano erupts this year, there is no danger to people.
While it is said the eruption could cause a series of small earthquakes, they aren't likely to be felt on land due to the volcano's depth and how far offshore it is.
The lava flows that come from Axial Seamount will have no effect on the surface of the ocean either and will only reshape the seafloor.
If the researcher's predictions come true, the underwater volcano will provide a better understanding of how to predict volcanic eruptions.
Ginnie Sandoval is the Oregon Connect reporter for the Statesman Journal. Sandoval can be reached at GSandoval@gannett.com or on X at @GinnieSandoval.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Underwater volcano off Oregon Coast predicted to erupt in 2025
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