Warning issued over mile-wide volcano off US mainland after worrying development

A warning has been issued about a massive underwater volcano a mere 300 miles from the US mainland that is predicted to erupt this year.

Axial Seamount is located near Washington and Oregon and stretches more than a mile wide and reaches heights of 3,600 feet (1,100 metres) from the seafloor.

As one of the most active underwater volcanoes in the world, Axial Seamount previously erupted in 1998, 2011, and 2015. And there are now signs that another eruption is imminent.

Scientists found in November that it had swollen to 95 per cent of the height it reached shortly before its last eruption a decade ago. This swelling suggests there’s a build-up of magma underground. Two experts have also stated that there has been an uptick in seismic activity.

One of the experts is William Chadwick from Oregon State University. “Because it’s had these three eruptions in the last 30 years, that’s why we call it the most active volcano in the Pacific Northwest,” he informed CBS affiliate KOIN.

“Because most of the ones on land aren’t active that frequently, and they spend a lot of their time slumbering, whereas Axial has a pretty active magma supply."

The massive underwater volcano is a mile wideWiki commons

Axial Seamount is located 300 miles off the coast of the US mainlandWiki commons

“So, if it’s not erupting, it’s inflating and getting ready for the next one. And so that’s why we’re kind of monitoring what’s happening to it all the time.”

Chadwick also mentioned activity in the last year suggests an eruption will happen very soon. “And in the last year, especially, the number of earthquakes, which is also monitored by this cable observatory, has really increased.

“So, all these signs are pointing toward the final stages of the buildup to the next eruption.”

Axial Seamount’s eruptions, however, are not explosive like typical volcanoes on land because it’s underwater. It will release a slow stream of lava across the seafloor. In a separate interview, Chadwick likened it to a balloon deflating.

He told OregonLive: “The balloon keeps getting bigger and bigger. And at some point, the pressure becomes too great and the magma forces open a crack, flowing to the surface. When that happens, the seafloor subsides as the ‘balloon’ deflates.”

Elsewhere in the US, Yellowstone supervolcano in Wyoming, which last erupted 640,000 years ago, is thankfully not predicted to spew lava again this year.

However scientists have predicted when the next eruption should take place, and judging by the havoc that was caused the last time this happened, the next one will probably be just as frightening.

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