A massive underwater volcano off the coast of Oregon has been rocked by hundreds of earthquakes a day, a sign that it could soon erupt.
Axial Seamount, the most active volcano in the Pacific Northwest, is nestled about 300 miles off the coastline and nearly a mile beneath the ocean's surface.
Scientists have detected around 100 earthquakes per day, with recent peaks hitting 300 a day. Seismic activity is a sign magma is moving up through cracks in the volcano.
The quakes are small, typically magnitude 1 or 2, and too far offshore for humans to feel, but they're frequent.
William Wilcock, a professor of oceanography at the University of Washington, said: 'If this was a volcano in places where people lived, they would be evacuated.'
Experts believe pressure is building, magma is on the move, and the stage may be set for an eruption similar to the spectacular one that occurred in 2015, which saw 500 quakes per day, then 1,000, and then 2,000.
Since the magma is rising from deep within the Earth through a complicated and irregular pathway, the inflation has been less uniform and slower than in past eruptions, making this event harder to predict, Wilcock explained.
'We think there will be some warning,' Wilcock said. 'But then again… volcanoes do tend to surprise people.'
The uncertainty means that the volcano by all appearances may erupt any day now, but researchers believe it's likelier the eruption will come by July 2026, or as late as May 2027.
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