{"id":24495,"date":"2026-01-28T10:51:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T18:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/?p=24495"},"modified":"2026-02-16T10:56:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T18:56:03","slug":"axial-seamount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/axial-seamount\/","title":{"rendered":"Axial Seamount"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A digital mapping of the Axial Seamount volcano underwater. | Photo from @theoregonian on Instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jan. 28 2026 | <\/span>Hannah Field | Editor-in-Chief<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, it was expected that the underwater volcano Axial Seamount would erupt. This did not happen. Now, experts are claiming 2026 is its year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Located approximately 300 miles off the Oregon coast, and a mile deep into the ocean, Axial Seamount is considered the most active submarine volcano in the Northeast Pacific and potentially faces a volcanic eruption this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the potential fear that can come with the words \u201cvolcanic eruption,\u201d it\u2019s very unlikely that the Axial Seamount volcano will create any impact for Oregonians. Simply put, the volcano is quite far offshore and really deep, despite being incredibly active, with an eruption history of 2011 and 2015 most recently. In fact, if someone were in a boat on the ocean directly over Axial Seamount as it erupts, they would feel none of the effects on the surface. If well underwater, however, it could be heard.<\/span><\/p>\n

An eruption from Axial Seamount can last days or weeks; in 2015, it spat out 5.5 billion cubic feet of lava into the ocean \u2014 creating pillow lava that emerged from being rapidly cooled.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seismic activity and seafloor inflation from magma is what indicated to scientists that Axial Seamount was nearing eruption, the volcano being one of the most well-studied. It\u2019s said to have one of the most complex geographical builds, being part of a chain of seamounts \u2014 underwater mountains formed by volcanic activity \u2014 and intersecting the Juan de Fuca Ridge.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Regional Cabled Array is an ocean observatory that provides data in real time from the seafloor and water column that stretches across the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate to scientists. Through a network of 560 miles (900 kilometers) of electro-optical cables and two-way communication lines to scientific sensors, researchers are able to collect data and monitor activity.<\/span><\/p>\n

And, while pressure has increased and Axial Seamount is seeing similar levels as prior to its 2015 eruption, it\u2019s holding steady; researchers think mid-to-late 2026 is when the submarine volcano could experience some activity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In November, Oregon State University announced a new experiment utilizing collected data from the Regional Cabled Array to try and accurately predict an eruption. Underwater or not, volcanic eruptions can be impossible to predict, as no good framework exists, only the option of surveying old activity and comparing it to the present.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, Axial Seamount is taller than it was in 2015 when it last erupted. Although nobody will be harmed or even remotely affected by its potential eruption \u2014 anticipated eruption, even \u2014 scientists are looking forward to absorbing its data and tracking an underwater volcano eruption, which is extremely difficult to do.<\/span><\/p>\n



<\/p>\n

Contact the author at howleditorinchief@wou.edu<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1645,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Axial Seamount","_seopress_titles_desc":"New year\u2019s resolution: not really experience the eruption of a submarine volcano off the coast of Oregon","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3463,6047,6011,8704,1060,8698,8689,8718,8697,8713,4135,8721,2923,8711,8715,8693,8692,8707,8714,8712,8700,8705,8703,8720,1576,8699,6371,8717,507,3934,8701,6357,8710,8696,3294,8719,8716,2101,7662,6639,8702,8694,8690,3937,8706,6442,6812,8709,1454,7665,8708,1254,8691,8695,2947,3452],"class_list":["post-24495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-3463","tag-6047","tag-6011","tag-8704","tag-activity","tag-array","tag-axial","tag-cable","tag-cabled","tag-column","tag-de","tag-deflate","tag-earth","tag-earthquake","tag-electro","tag-erupt","tag-eruption","tag-floor","tag-fuca","tag-juan","tag-lava","tag-levels","tag-magma","tag-monitor","tag-move","tag-network","tag-ocean","tag-optical","tag-oregon","tag-osu","tag-pillow","tag-plate","tag-quake","tag-regional","tag-research","tag-researcher","tag-ridge","tag-science","tag-scientist","tag-sea","tag-seafloor","tag-seamount","tag-seamounts","tag-state","tag-submarine","tag-tall","tag-taller","tag-tectonic","tag-track","tag-under","tag-underwater","tag-university","tag-volcano","tag-volcanoes","tag-water","tag-year"],"modified_by":"saragerrick","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1645"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24495"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24501,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24495\/revisions\/24501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}