Mile-Deep Underwater Volcano Is Inflating ‘Like a Balloon’ and Could Erupt Soon, Scientists Warn

NEED TO KNOW

• The Axial Seamount, an underwater volcano off the Pacific northwest coast, has been showing signs of an impending eruption, researchers at Oregon State University said

• The volcano has seen an increase in physical size and seismic activity in recent months, the scientists warned

• The volcano has been dubbed the “most active submarine volcano” in the region

An underwater volcano off the Pacific northwest coast is projected to erupt soon.

Researchers at Oregon State University (OSU) have been recording activity at the Axial Seamount, located roughly 300 miles off the coast of Oregon and 4,900 feet under the surface, per ABC News and Axios. The underwater volcano's recent behavior has signaled to OSU researchers that it's tending toward an eruption in the near future.

Indicators of a possible eruption include earthquakes in the area and physical changes to the underwater mass, they warned.

Researchers recorded over 2,000 earthquakes near the Axial Seamount in a single day in June, per data collected by OSU, which is commonly associated with an impending eruption. However, in the following days, the daily number of earthquakes decreased to around 100.

William Chadwick, a research associate at OSU, told ABC News in January that the underwater volcano has been inflating "like a balloon" due to the increase of molten rock inside. Coupled with its seismic activity, the Axial Seamount is slated to erupt before the end of 2025.

The volcano is of scientific interest as it will help researchers gather information about volcanic activity on land. However, based on the volcano's eruption patterns, the upcoming eruption is very unlikely to impact humans or property or cause tsunami waves.

"For the size of eruptions we’ve seen in the last 20 years … if you were on top of it on a boat, you would never know it,” Chadwick told local outlet OPB of the volcano in 2019.

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The Axial Seamount erupted most recently in 2015, with earlier eruptions in 2011 and 1998. OSU researchers deemed it the "most active submarine volcano" in the region, per their ongoing blog.

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