Giant mile-wide hidden volcano set to ERUPT from beneath the waves ‘imminently’ near US mainland, experts predict
Giant mile-wide hidden volcano set to ERUPT from beneath the waves ‘imminently’ near US mainland, experts predict
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A HUGE underwater hidden volcano is set to erupt near the US mainland as scientists reveal it has shown signs it will blow imminently. The Axial Seamount is more than a mile wide and sits just off the US coast near Washington and Oregon. Sitting just 300 miles away from the mainland, experts revealed the 3,600-foot-tall volcano is likely to erupt this year.
![[Underwater view of Axial Seamount vent, showing hydrothermal vent organisms.]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/01/NINTCHDBPICT000967299063.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The lava bomb has shown signs of a magma buildup through extreme swelling and rumbling. Axial Seamount has previously erupted in 1998, 2011, and 2015. Scientists have revealed the underwater giant had swollen to the size it was before its 2015 eruption, in November 2024.
![[Illustration of axially exaggerated bathymetry.]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/01/commons-wikimedia-org-wiki-file-967298995.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
This indicates magma has built up in the volcano before a possible eruption. The geologist behind this incredible study - William Chadwick from Oregon State University - dubbed this underwater beast the “most active volcano” in the area. “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.
![[Illustration of the Juan de Fuca Ridge and surrounding tectonic plates, including Axial Seamount.]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/01/interactive-oceans-situated-along-juan-967302858.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
“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.”. He added what else happened around the volcano last year to raise his suspicions about an eruption.
![[Two scientists monitoring underwater volcanic activity on multiple computer screens.]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/01/axial-seamount-immense-water-pressure-967300272.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
“And in the last year, especially, there was the number of earthquakes, which is also monitored by this cable observatory, has really increased,” Chadwick added. “So, all these signs are pointing toward the final stages of the buildup to the next eruption.”.
![[Portrait of Bill Chadwick, Oregon State University Research Associate.]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/01/oregon-state-university-research-associate-967300833.jpg?strip=all&w=400)
