Axial Seamount: Underwater Volcano Could Erupt Any Day

Scientists are closely watching Axial Seamount, an underwater volcano 300 miles off Oregon’s coast and nearly 5,000 feet below the Pacific. It’s showing the same warning signs it did before its 2015 eruption. “The seafloor has inflated to the level that it reached before the 2015 eruption,” said marine geophysicist William Wilcock.

Daily earthquakes beneath the volcano have surged since May. “At the moment, there are a couple hundred earthquakes a day,” Wilcock noted. These tremors suggest magma is rising and could soon break through. Experts warn the eruption could happen “later this year or early 2026,” but it “could be tomorrow.”

Fortunately, the eruption won’t pose any risk to people on land. “It’s too deep and too far from shore for people to even notice,” said Mike Poland of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.