Submarine volcano near Oregon can erupt any time. Can it be as terrible as the Tonga explosion?

A volcano 5,000 feet under the Pacific Ocean is boiling and can erupt in the coming days. Located miles from the Oregon coast, the Axial Seamount has triggered several small earthquakes in the region in the past few weeks. Scientists say that a buildup of magma under the surface has led the volcano to inflate and the eruption is imminent.

Axial Seamount is Pacific Northwest’s most active underwater volcano. The last time the volcano blew up was in 2015 when it spilt lava on the ocean floor, spreading several kilometres.

Experts say that as magma continues to build under the surface, the volcano inflates. The amount of inflation can indicate when the volcano will erupt. William Wilcock, a marine geophysicist and professor at the University of Washington, said in a statement that 
Axial Seamount "has already inflated to the level that it reached before the last three eruptions", which means the eruption is near.

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Earthquakes are another indication of an impending eruption. The region around Seamount is experiencing 200 to 300 earthquakes a day. Tidal activity on some days pushes the number to 1,000. This number can increase to 2,000 as it gets closer to eruption.

“Axial is under a state of critical stress now,” noted Maya Tolstoy, a marine geophysicist and the Maggie Walker Dean of the University of Washington College of the Environment, stated.

When the eruption happens, a loud noise will be heard, but only by creatures living inside the ocean. Creatures residing on Axial Seamount’s hydrothermal vents will suffer the most, as the lava can completely cover them, killing all life residing on them. Notably, submarine volcanoes provide an ideal environment for several animals and other marine life to thrive.

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The seawater is heated by magma, creating the right environment for some species, while the gases released from the volcanoes help microbes survive.

Underwater volcanoes don't just hit marine life, but a powerful implosion can wreak havoc on land as well. The Tonga volcano eruption in 2022 triggered a massive volcanic tsunami. Several places like Vanuatu, New Zealand, Japan, the United States, and more were affected. In Tonga, 66 ft high tsunami waves were reported, while the uninhabited island of Tofua witnessed 148 ft high waves. Four people died, and several people are still believed to be missing in Tonga. In Chile, two people drowned. 

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It was the largest volcanic eruption since the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo. NASA pegged the explosion to be "hundreds of times more powerful" than the Hiroshima atomic bomb. It beat every other volcanic event in the 20th century and all nuclear tests.`

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Can the Oregon underwater volcano also cause a similar aftermath? The Oregon volcano is miles away from land, so even if the explosion is huge and tsunami waves occur, they might not cause as much damage. However, there is still a chance that the scale of the implosion itself is devastating.

Deborah Kelley, a professor at the University of Washington, says that "people have never directly witnessed an eruption along this mountain chain, so we still have a lot of unanswered questions."