An underwater volcano off the U.S. coast may be nearing an eruption, experts caution.
Researchers have raised the alarm about the Axial Seamount, a large underwater volcano situated roughly 300 miles from Oregon’s shoreline in the Pacific Ocean. Resting nearly 5,000 feet beneath the sea’s surface, the volcano has recently been the source of numerous small earthquakes—an indication that magma is moving upward.
Natural disasters like volcanic eruptions have historically caused severe devastation, such as the tragic incident in Colombia where a young girl and thousands of others were trapped in a deadly mudslide.
Monitoring efforts at Axial Seamount have intensified, with scientists believing they are close to determining when it could erupt. The seismic activity being recorded mirrors the conditions leading up to its last eruption in 2015. This similarity has led William Wilcock, a marine geophysicist at the University of Washington, to speculate that an eruption might occur very soon.
“At the moment, we’re detecting several hundred earthquakes per day—still fewer than just before the previous eruption,” Wilcock explained. “It could erupt later this year or in early 2026, but there’s always the chance it could happen tomorrow. It’s inherently unpredictable.”
While volcanic eruptions are often associated with destruction—think Pompeii—this particular event is unlikely to directly threaten human life. In fact, some marine ecosystems might benefit from the warmth introduced by the lava.
Still, the volcano’s 2015 eruption generated about 8,000 quakes and caused the seafloor to drop nearly eight feet. Such drastic changes complicate deep-sea exploration, which increasingly depends on robotic technology due to human limitations at those depths.
Despite the risks, some scientists view the event with scientific enthusiasm. Mike Poland, from the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, highlighted the value of Axial Seamount as a research site.
“It’s probably the best-instrumented submarine volcano on Earth,” he said to Cowboy State Daily. “It’s incredibly interesting and doesn’t pose a real threat.”
“When it erupts, it behaves more like lava flows in Hawaii—steady streams of molten rock emerging from the caldera and spreading over the ocean floor, rather than violent explosions.”