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USA Today
28-05-2025
- Science
- USA Today
Experts say Hawaii's Kilauea isn't done erupting. And it's not the only volcano rumbling.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists predict Hawaii's Kilauea volcano to erupt in the near future after an eruption May 25 sent lava spewing more that 1,000 feet into the sky. Since December 2024, Kilauea has erupted about once a week, making it one of the world's most active volcanoes, the U.S. Geological Survey says. Kilauea isn't the only volcano erupting. More than 50 volcanic eruptions have been reported around the world this year. The eruptions contribute significantly to earthquakes of all sizes, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. About the Kilauea eruption in 2025 The Kilauea eruption that produced the 1,000-foot plume occurred in a closed area of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park about 200 miles and several islands southeast of Honolulu. Hawaiian Volcano Observatory status report says the lava poses no immediate threat to people who live in the area. Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them. Other volcano eruptions and the Ring of Fire The Ring of Fire is a horseshoe-shaped region in the Pacific about 25,000 miles long that contains more than 450 volcanoes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The ring, NOAA says, extends "from the southern tip of South America, along the West Coast of North America, across the Bering Strait, down through Japan and into New Zealand." Its volcanoes extend farther south into Antarctica. "Three out of every four live volcanoes on Earth are here,' National Geographic says. 'Almost all earthquakes happen here, too." The Ring of Fire is the result of plate tectonics − moving slabs of rock millions of square miles across. They can collide with or pull away from one another. Heavier plates can slide beneath lighter ones, heating and melting the rock and creating magma. Volcanoes form as the magma rises through the Earth's crust. How volcanos differ in shape and size How many volcanic eruptions have occurred in 2025? Fifty to 70 volcano eruptions are recorded around the world each year. According to the Global Volcanism Program, 54 volcanic eruptions have been confirmed this year as of May 2. A dozen of those eruptions have been in new locations. Underwater volcano lurks off the Oregon coast The massive undersea Axial seamount volcano reaches more than 3,600 feet above the seabed about 300 miles off Oregon. It last erupted in 2015. 'A year ago, Axial seemed to be taking a nap, but now it's waking up, and we think it's likely to erupt before the end of 2025,' Bill Chadwick, a volcanologist with Oregon State University and part of a team that's studying the volcano, told USA TODAY at the time. A series of instruments placed around the volcano indicates a reservoir has been refilling with magma since its last eruption, gradually inflating so that it's bulging upward. Overall, the undersea volcano continues to grow but it "sure doesn't seem like anything is imminent," he wrote. CONTRIBUTING Elizabeth Weise and Jim Sergent/USA TODAY
Economic Times
24-05-2025
- Science
- Economic Times
Massive underwater volcano off Oregon coast could erupt soon; scientists weigh risk of 9.0 earthquake and Pacific tsunami
TIL Creatives The Axial Seamount lies deep in the Pacific Ocean, drawing increased scientific attention as it shows signs of an imminent eruption (AI generated image) Beneath the cold waters of the northeast Pacific Ocean, roughly 700 miles northwest of San Francisco, an ominous geological force is rumbling. Scientists warn that the Axial Seamount, one of the most active underwater volcanoes on Earth, could wouldn't typically spell disaster, but its location raises bigger questions. Could this undersea eruption spark a chain reaction along the Cascadia subduction zone, resulting in the long-feared magnitude 9.0 earthquake and a catastrophic tsunami striking the Pacific coastlines of Oregon, Washington, and California? Also read: US may get hit by a 1,000-foot 'Mega-Tsunami' within 50 years, wiping out these cities off the mapExperts say the answer is no. But the timing and intensity of Axial Seamount's activity is still giving them pause. No tsunami threat, but concerns about earthquake risk remain Volcanologist Bill Chadwick of Oregon State University has studied Axial Seamount for decades. He says the volcano is far enough from the Cascadia fault that an eruption will not trigger the so-called "Big One", the massive earthquake scientists have long anticipated along the Pacific Northwest coast. Axial Seamount is located too far away to influence the tectonic plates responsible for Cascadia's seismic threat. 'Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood... kinds of volcanoes have more gas and are more explosive,' Chadwick explained. "Axial is more like Hawaii and Iceland."Unlike explosive land-based eruptions, which can kill people and cause widespread destruction, the Axial Seamount's underwater eruptions ooze lava quietly. 'The magma is more fluid, so the gas can get out without exploding,' Chadwick inflation indicates eruption is nearStill, what's happening at the volcano is far from routine. The seafloor surrounding the Axial Seamount has started to inflate again, something scientists have seen before every past eruption. Since 2024 began, the rate of inflation has been steady, and Chadwick is confident enough to go public with his forecast. Also read: Two quakes in Pacific ocean, but no damages or tsunami warnings issued 'At the rate of inflation it's going, I expect it to erupt by the end of the year,' he said. Chadwick and colleague Scott Nooner, from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, posted their prediction to their blog in July last time they made a similar forecast, in 2015, the volcano erupted seven months later. But predicting eruptions isn't foolproof. "It wouldn't shock me if it erupted tomorrow," Chadwick said, 'but I'm thinking it's not going to be anytime soon on the whole.' A hot spot for eruptions and data Axial Seamount sits atop the Juan de Fuca Ridge, where tectonic plates diverge and new seafloor forms. What makes it even more volcanic is that it also rests over a geological hot spot, rising plumes of superheated magma that power frequent double threat of tectonic and hot spot activity makes Axial Seamount one of Earth's most consistently active volcanoes. It erupted in 1998, 2011 and 2015. Its reliable activity has turned it into the best-monitored underwater volcano in the world.'In between eruptions, the volcano slowly inflates—the seafloor rises. Then during an eruption, the volcano deflates and the seafloor drops,' said oceanographer William Wilcock of the University of Washington. Also read: Earthquake in US: Tremor jolts Massachusetts, New England. Residents share their experiences Underwater eruptions still reshape marine life Though it won't create a tsunami or reach the ocean's surface, an eruption can still be dramatic under the sea. Lava flows spread across the seafloor, destroying any sea life in their path and potentially damaging expensive sensor equipment that monitors the area. 'There's all this heat that takes a long time to dissipate,' Chadwick said. 'Microbial mats can grow and it almost looks like snow over a landscape.'Whales and other large sea creatures won't be impacted, as they live near the surface. But deep-sea habitats may not fare as well. Forecasting a rare glimpse into Earth's inner workings Scientists are optimistic that their work at Axial Seamount will offer broader insight into volcano forecasting, especially for eruptions that pose real danger on land. But they also acknowledge that catching these eruptions live remains a challenge. Also read: Mega earthquake in USA? 10,000 US residents at risk from underwater fault line in the Pacific 'You have to be in the right place at the right time,' Chadwick said. Eruptions may last only days to a few weeks, and scientific vessels are scheduled years in Axial Seamount might erupt before 2025, the next planned expedition to study it is set for the summer of 2026."There's no problem of having a false alarm or being wrong," Chadwick noted, because no communities are directly at risk. Still, he said, 'maybe there's lessons that can be applied to other more hazardous volcanoes around the world.'For now, scientists continue to monitor this restless giant under the sea, one that may erupt quietly, but not unnoticed.
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Massive underwater volcano off Oregon coast could erupt soon; scientists weigh risk of 9.0 earthquake and Pacific tsunami
Beneath the cold waters of the northeast Pacific Ocean, roughly 700 miles northwest of San Francisco, an ominous geological force is rumbling. Scientists warn that the Axial Seamount, one of the most active underwater volcanoes on Earth, could erupt. This wouldn't typically spell disaster, but its location raises bigger questions. Could this undersea eruption spark a chain reaction along the Cascadia subduction zone, resulting in the long-feared magnitude 9.0 earthquake and a catastrophic tsunami striking the Pacific coastlines of Oregon, Washington, and California? Also read: US may get hit by a 1,000-foot 'Mega-Tsunami' within 50 years, wiping out these cities off the map Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 오돌토돌 팔뚝, 긁지말고 이렇게 해보세요 현명한소비자 Undo Experts say the answer is no. But the timing and intensity of Axial Seamount's activity is still giving them pause. No tsunami threat, but concerns about earthquake risk remain Live Events Volcanologist Bill Chadwick of Oregon State University has studied Axial Seamount for decades. He says the volcano is far enough from the Cascadia fault that an eruption will not trigger the so-called "Big One", the massive earthquake scientists have long anticipated along the Pacific Northwest coast. Axial Seamount is located too far away to influence the tectonic plates responsible for Cascadia's seismic threat. 'Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood... kinds of volcanoes have more gas and are more explosive,' Chadwick explained. "Axial is more like Hawaii and Iceland." Unlike explosive land-based eruptions, which can kill people and cause widespread destruction, the Axial Seamount's underwater eruptions ooze lava quietly. 'The magma is more fluid, so the gas can get out without exploding,' Chadwick added. Volcano inflation indicates eruption is near Still, what's happening at the volcano is far from routine. The seafloor surrounding the Axial Seamount has started to inflate again, something scientists have seen before every past eruption. Since 2024 began, the rate of inflation has been steady, and Chadwick is confident enough to go public with his forecast. Also read: Two quakes in Pacific ocean, but no damages or tsunami warnings issued 'At the rate of inflation it's going, I expect it to erupt by the end of the year,' he said. Chadwick and colleague Scott Nooner, from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, posted their prediction to their blog in July 2024. The last time they made a similar forecast, in 2015, the volcano erupted seven months later. But predicting eruptions isn't foolproof. "It wouldn't shock me if it erupted tomorrow," Chadwick said, 'but I'm thinking it's not going to be anytime soon on the whole.' A hot spot for eruptions and data Axial Seamount sits atop the Juan de Fuca Ridge, where tectonic plates diverge and new seafloor forms. What makes it even more volcanic is that it also rests over a geological hot spot , rising plumes of superheated magma that power frequent eruptions. This double threat of tectonic and hot spot activity makes Axial Seamount one of Earth's most consistently active volcanoes. It erupted in 1998, 2011 and 2015. Its reliable activity has turned it into the best-monitored underwater volcano in the world. 'In between eruptions, the volcano slowly inflates—the seafloor rises. Then during an eruption, the volcano deflates and the seafloor drops,' said oceanographer William Wilcock of the University of Washington. Also read: Earthquake in US: Tremor jolts Massachusetts, New England. Residents share their experiences Underwater eruptions still reshape marine life Though it won't create a tsunami or reach the ocean's surface, an eruption can still be dramatic under the sea. Lava flows spread across the seafloor, destroying any sea life in their path and potentially damaging expensive sensor equipment that monitors the area. 'There's all this heat that takes a long time to dissipate,' Chadwick said. 'Microbial mats can grow and it almost looks like snow over a landscape.' Whales and other large sea creatures won't be impacted, as they live near the surface. But deep-sea habitats may not fare as well. Forecasting a rare glimpse into Earth's inner workings Scientists are optimistic that their work at Axial Seamount will offer broader insight into volcano forecasting, especially for eruptions that pose real danger on land. But they also acknowledge that catching these eruptions live remains a challenge. Also read: Mega earthquake in USA? 10,000 US residents at risk from underwater fault line in the Pacific 'You have to be in the right place at the right time,' Chadwick said. Eruptions may last only days to a few weeks, and scientific vessels are scheduled years in advance. Although Axial Seamount might erupt before 2025, the next planned expedition to study it is set for the summer of 2026. "There's no problem of having a false alarm or being wrong," Chadwick noted, because no communities are directly at risk. Still, he said, 'maybe there's lessons that can be applied to other more hazardous volcanoes around the world.' For now, scientists continue to monitor this restless giant under the sea, one that may erupt quietly, but not unnoticed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
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@ or on X at @GinnieSandoval. This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Underwater volcano off Oregon Coast predicted to erupt in 2025
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
A mysterious, highly active undersea volcano near California could erupt later this year. What scientists expect
A mysterious and highly active undersea volcano off the Pacific Coast could erupt by the end of this year, scientists say. Nearly a mile deep and about 700 miles northwest of San Francisco, the volcano known as Axial Seamount is drawing increasing scrutiny from scientists who only discovered its existence in the 1980s. Located in a darkened part of the northeast Pacific Ocean, the submarine volcano has erupted three times since its discovery — in 1998, 2011 and 2015 — according to Bill Chadwick, a research associate at Oregon State University and an expert on the volcano. Fortunately for residents of California, Oregon and Washington, Axial Seamount doesn't erupt explosively, so it poses zero risk of any tsunami. "Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood, Crater Lake — those kind of volcanoes have a lot more gas and are more explosive in general. The magma is more viscous," Chadwick said. "Axial is more like the volcanoes in Hawaii and Iceland ... less gas, the lava is very fluid, so the gas can get out without exploding." Read more: Monster earthquake could sink swath of California, dramatically heightening flood risk, study says The destructive force of explosive eruptions is legendary: when Mt. Vesuvius blew in 79 AD, it wiped out the ancient Roman city of Pompeii; when Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980, 57 people died; and when the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano in Tonga's archipelago exploded in 2022 — a once-in-a-century event — the resulting tsunami, which reached a maximum height of 72 feet, caused damage across the Pacific Ocean and left at least six dead. Axial Seamount, by contrast, is a volcano that, during eruptions, oozes lava — similar to the type of eruptions in Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawaii. As a result, Axial's eruptions are not noticeable to people on land. It's a very different story underwater. Heat plumes from the eruption will rise from the seafloor — perhaps half a mile — but won't reach the surface, said William Wilcock, professor of oceanography at the University of Washington. The outermost layer of the lava flow will almost immediately cool and form a crust, but the interior of the lava flow can remain molten for a time, Chadwick said. "In some places ... the lava comes out slower and piles up, and then there's all this heat that takes a long time to dissipate. And on those thick flows, microbial mats can grow, and it almost looks like snow over a landscape." Sea life can die if buried by the lava, which also risks destroying or damaging scientific equipment installed around the volcano to detect eruptions and earthquakes. But the eruption probably won't affect sea life such as whales, which are "too close to the surface" to be bothered by the eruption, Wilcock said. Read more: These California coastal cities face heightened flood danger from tsunami, data show Also, eruptions at Axial Seamount aren't expected to trigger a long-feared magnitude 9.0 earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone. Such an earthquake would probably spawn a catastrophic tsunami for Washington, Oregon and California's northernmost coastal counties. That's because Axial Seamount is located too far away from that major fault. Axial Seamount is one of countless volcanoes that are underwater. Scientists estimate that 80% of Earth's volcanic output — magma and lava — occurs in the ocean. Axial Seamount has drawn intense interest from scientists. It is now the best-monitored underwater volcano in the world. The volcano is a prolific erupter in part because of its location, Chadwick said. Not only is it perched on a ridge where the Juan de Fuca and Pacific tectonic plates spread apart from each other — creating new seafloor in the process — but the volcano is also planted firmly above a geological "hot spot" — a region where plumes of superheated magma rise toward the Earth's surface. For Chadwick and other researchers, frequent eruptions offer the tantalizing opportunity to predict volcanic eruptions weeks to months in advance — something that's very difficult to do with other volcanoes. (There's also much less likelihood anyone will get mad if scientists get it wrong.) "For a lot of volcanoes around the world, they sit around and are dormant for long periods of time, and then suddenly they get active. But this one is pretty active all the time, at least in the time period we've been studying it," Chadwick said. "If it's not erupting, it's getting ready for the next one." Scientists know this because they've spotted a pattern. "Between eruptions, the volcano slowly inflates — which means the seafloor rises. ... And then during an eruption, it will, when the magma comes out, the volcano deflates and the seafloor drops down," Wilcock said. Eruptions, Chadwick said, are "like letting some air out of the balloon. And what we've seen is that it has inflated to a similar level each time when an eruption is triggered," he said. Chadwick and fellow scientist Scott Nooner predicted the volcano's 2015 eruption seven months before it happened after they realized the seafloor was inflating quite quickly and linearly. That "made it easier to extrapolate into the future to get up to this threshold that it had reached before" eruption, Chadwick said. But making predictions since then has been more challenging. Chadwick started making forecast windows in 2019, but around that time, the rate of inflation started slowing down, and by the summer of 2023, "it had almost stopped. So then it was like, 'Who knows when it's going to erupt?'" But in late 2023, the seafloor slowly began inflating again. Since the start of 2024, "it's been kind of cranking along at a pretty steady rate," he said. He and Nooner, of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, made the latest eruption prediction in July 2024 and posted it to their blog. Their forecast remains unchanged. "At the rate of inflation it's going, I expect it to erupt by the end of the year," Chadwick said. But based on seismic data, it's not likely the volcano is about to erupt imminently. While scientists haven't mastered predicting volcanic eruptions weeks or months ahead of time, they do a decent job of forecasting eruptions minutes to hours to days ahead of time, using clues like an increased frequency of earthquakes. At this point, "we're not at the high rate of seismicity that we saw before 2015," Chadwick said. "It wouldn't shock me if it erupted tomorrow, but I'm thinking that it's not going to be anytime soon on the whole." He cautioned that his forecast still amounts to an experiment, albeit one that has become quite public. "I feel like it's more honest that way, instead of doing it in retrospect," Chadwick said in a presentation in November. The forecast started to garner attention after he gave a talk at the American Geophysical Union meeting in December. On the bright side, he said, "there's no problem of having a false alarm or being wrong," because the predictions won't affect people on land. If the predictions are correct, "maybe there's lessons that can be applied to other more hazardous volcanoes around the world," Chadwick said. As it stands now, though, making forecasts for eruptions for many volcanoes on land "are just more complicated," without having a "repeatable pattern like we're seeing at this one offshore." Read more: The California tsunami danger is real. The 7.0 earthquake is wake-up call to prepare Scientists elsewhere have looked at other ways to forecast undersea eruptions. Scientists began noticing a repeatable pattern in the rising temperature of hydrothermal vents at a volcano in the East Pacific and the timing of three eruptions in the same spot over the last three decades. "And it sort of worked," Chadwick said. Plenty of luck allowed scientists to photograph the eruption of the volcanic site known as "9 degrees 50 minutes North on the East Pacific Rise," which was just the third time scientists had ever captured images of active undersea volcanism. But Chadwick doubts researchers will be fortunate enough to videotape Axial Seamount's eruption. Although scientists will be alerted to it by the National Science Foundation-funded Ocean Observatories Initiative Regional Cabled Array — a sensor system operated by the University of Washington — getting there in time will be a challenge. "You have to be in the right place at the right time to catch an eruption in action, because they don't last very long. The ones at Axial probably last a week or a month," Chadwick said. And then there's the difficulty of getting a ship and a remotely operated vehicle or submarine to capture the images. Such vessels are generally scheduled far in advance, perhaps a year or a year and a half out, and projects are tightly scheduled. Chadwick last went to the volcano in 2024 and is expected to go out next in the summer of 2026. If his predictions are correct, Axial Seamount will have already erupted. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
