Scientists have warned against that an underwater mountain On the northwest coast of the US it is expected to blow sometime in 2025.
The volcano, called Axial Seamount, is more than 3,600 meters high and sits half a kilometer under water 300 kilometers from the coast. Oregon.
Experts predicted this on December 10 after detecting a sea floor swelling around the Axial which is based on the level. observed immediately before the explosion in 2015.
Seismic events have also increased, with hundreds of earthquakes occurring around the mountain per day and more than 500 major earthquakes per day.
“Based on current trends, and the assumption that Axial will start to explode in 2015. inflation for starters, our window for what appears to be an explosion is between now (July 2024) and the end of 2025,” the researchers said in a new study.
The team first detected the eruption in November using a series of instruments to carefully monitor the volcano’s eruptions, gathering real-time data on its tremors, tremors, swelling and tilt.
Located on Mount Juan de Fuca, Axial is the largest underwater volcano in the northeast Pacific.
Because Axial erupts regularly, it provides a unique opportunity for scientists to study the warning signs that lead to eruptions, and learn how to predict them.
Scientists have warned that an underwater volcano on the northwest coast of the US could erupt sometime in 2025.
Experts predicted this on December 10 after detecting a seafloor swelling around Axial that is approaching the level seen before the eruption in 2015.
Fortunately, the Axial explosion does not threaten people and infrastructure on the West Coast.
This is mainly because it is a safe volcano, which does not usually have serious eruptions.
What is it, The earthquakes around there are too small to cause a tsunami or older an earthquake.
Oregon State University astrophysicist William Chadwick began researching the volcano in November he noticed that its surface had swelled to about the same height it had reached in its last eruption about 10 years ago.
Swelling at the surface is a strong indicator that the shield is about to explode, because it means that magma has accumulated below and is creating pressure.
The swelling that occurred before the 2015 eruption led Chadwick and his colleagues to predict what would happen next.
It was their ‘best prediction win,’ he said Science News.
Since the last eruption, Axial has recovered more than 95 percent of its last pre-eruption location, Chadwick and colleagues said. he explained in his words.
Because Axial erupts regularly, it provides a unique opportunity for scientists to study the signals that lead to eruptions, and learn how to predict one.
This inflammation has not changed. Inflation decreased between 2015 and 2023, and by the summer of 2023 it had almost stopped.
At the same time, the number of earthquakes remained low during this period.
But since the end of 2023, especially since January 2024, the swelling of the volcano and the strong tremors have been gradually increasing, “it seems to indicate a major change in the magma in the volcano,” the researchers explained.
As of July 2024, the rate of swelling has increased by about 10 inches per year and is still growing.
“If the rate of inflation and earthquakes continues, an eruption could occur by the end of 2024,” the group shared.
The ability to predict eruptions more than 24 hours in advance is ‘pretty unique,’ let alone provide months of information, Chadwick told Science News.
But the massive probe around Axial has allowed researchers to delve deeper into the mechanisms that drive undersea volcanoes than ever before.
They have also developed a new instrument that can measure the amount of magma that can cause subsequent eruptions. Others have used artificial intelligence to mine records of earthquakes before the 2015 eruption and learn more about early warning signs.
Although Axial is not a particularly dangerous undersea volcano, the predictive capabilities scientists have gained from reading this can help them predict future eruptions.
For example, in January 2022, the powerful eruption of the underwater volcano Hunga in the Tonga Islands in the South Pacific Ocean caused a tsunami that caused the water to melt. they spent about $90 billion.
These big waves it affected California, Hawaii, and parts of Canada, Chile, Fiji, Japan, New Zealand, Mexico and Peru.
West Coast won’t mind Axial hosting an event like that. But its imminent eruption will give scientists another chance to learn how these powerful things work.
