Experts believe an underwater volcano off the Pacific Coast may be close to erupting.
The volcano, known as Axial Seamount, is more than 4,900 feet beneath the Pacific Ocean and 300 miles off the Oregon coast. In relation to California, it is about 700 miles northwest of San Francisco.
Despite its low familiarity among the public, the submarine volcano is considered the most active in the Pacific Northwest. Scientists say the looming eruption will offer an unprecedented glimpse into Earth-shaping processes that are usually hidden deep beneath the waves, the Los Angeles Times reports.
“Over two-thirds of the Earth’s surface was formed by volcanic eruptions at these mid-ocean ridges,” Maya Tolstoy, a marine geophysicist and dean of the University of Washington’s College of the Environment, said in a university blog post. “Axial Seamount is a direct result of these fundamental processes that continue to shape our planet today.”
Thankfully, experts say the potential eruption poses no danger to residents.
“Axial Seamount is much too deep and far from shore for people on land to even notice when it erupts. An eruption at Axial Seamount also has nothing to do with seismic activity on land, so Pacific Northwesterners don’t need to worry about this event triggering a major earthquake or tsunami,” the blog post stated.
The volcano has erupted three times in recent years: in 1998, 2011, and 2015.
The data collected from the volcano will also help scientists improve eruption forecasting for Axial Seamount and other underwater volcanoes worldwide. Instruments installed after the 2015 eruption have enabled researchers to track the volcano’s behavior.
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