Rumblings 5,000 feet below sea near Oregon threaten underwater giant to wake up

Seismologists reported that two earthquakes struck off the coast of Oregon on Wednesday morning, very close to an underwater volcano. This has raised concerns that the volcano could be on the verge of exploding. The US Geological Survey (USGS) said that the quakes measured 4.8 and 5.4, and the epicentre was only about 100 miles from the Axial Seamount underwater volcano. It is the most active volcano in the Pacific Northwest and is located more than 4,900 feet below the surface. The earthquakes weren't as strong and wouldn't have even been felt by anyone. However, they could mean that the volcano is getting ready to erupt. Researchers studying Axial Seamount say that the eruption will be preceded by significant seismic activity. It has picked up this year, with over 2,000 small earthquakes being recorded on one day.

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When will Oregon underwater volcano erupt?

One expert believes that given the increasing number of earthquakes, the volcano will surely erupt by the end of 2025. William Wilcock, a professor and marine geophysicist at the University of Washington, warned, "I would say it was going to erupt sometime later (this year) or early 2026, but it could be tomorrow, because it's completely unpredictable." Meanwhile, Oregon State University geophysicist William Chadwick and Scott Nooner from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington wrote in a blog post that the number of earthquakes has scaled down significantly since June, and they can't say "what it will take to trigger the next eruption and exactly when that will happen."

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The Axial Seamount volcano last erupted in 2015. Around 8,000 earthquakes were detected at that time, with 400-foot-thick lava flows. The eruption led the bottom of the ocean to sink nearly eight feet. The signs are similar this time as well. Chadwick noticed last year that its surface had swelled to nearly the same height it reached before its last eruption 10 years ago, and so started investigating what was going on. The good news is that the volcanic eruption won't affect anyone on the West Coast, considering the depth of its location. In fact, the eruption might go unnoticed by the common man.