An underwater volcano is predicted to erupt off the Oregon coast in 2025. It could offer insights about land-based volcanoes

An Oregon State University scientist has predicted a volcanic eruption in 2025. But at about one mile under the ocean, the volcano isn’t considered a threat.

Bill Chadwick is a Research Associate at OSU and studies Axial Seamount, which is 300 miles west of Astoria. He said while it is the most active volcano in the Pacific Northwest, it isn’t explosive, poses no tsunami risk and has no impact on the Cascadia Subduction Zone.

For decades, Axial has had patterns of inflation and lava-flow eruption, most recently in 2015.

Chadwick said a network of sensors give scientists real-time data about seismic activity and seafloor movement, which are now at levels similar to the last eruption.

He told KLCC that researchers can learn a lot from an eruption in progress, such as, “where the magma’s accumulating, what depth, what kind of shape is the reservoir.… Does magma move around before it erupts? Are there telltale signs that happen before an eruption occurs that we can use for better forecasting?”

Chadwick said Axial is an ideal test case to answer questions about land-based volcanoes.

You can watch a short, summary video of the most recent expedition to the seamount here.