Earthquake rattles underwater volcano off West Coast set to erupt

"Unlike the hundreds of smaller tremors being recorded directly under the volcano, Chadwick told Daily Mail these major quakes were tied to the nearby Blanco Fracture Zone, where tectonic plates slide past each other and cause seismic events. Chadwick and his team have been monitoring the Seamount all year as the rate of these tiny earthquakes around the mouth of the volcano has steadily increased, a sign that an eruption is close."

"'There's still a chance it could erupt by the end of the year. We don't really know exactly when it will happen, but nothing seems imminent since the number of earthquakes per day is relatively low,' Chadwick said. The researcher explained that scientists will likely update their eruption prediction to late 2026 in the next few weeks because the ground swelling under the volcano has yet to reach the same levels it did prior to the last eruption a decade ago."

"The US Geological Survey (USGS) recorded a magnitude 4.2 earthquake less than 185 miles from Oregon's coastal town of Barview at 3.38am ET on Wednesday morning. However, the quake's epicenter was also roughly 200 miles from the Axial Seamount, a volcano that last erupted in 2015 and has been building towards another massive explosion this year. Wednesday's earthquake was the third major seismic event in the area in two weeks."

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake occurred less than 185 miles from Barview, Oregon, at 3.38am ET. The quake's epicenter was roughly 200 miles from Axial Seamount, which last erupted in 2015 and has been inflating toward another eruption. The event was the third major seismic occurrence in the area in two weeks, but major quakes were attributed to the Blanco Fracture Zone where tectonic plates slide past each other. Monitoring shows an increased rate of small earthquakes at the seamount mouth, indicating rising eruption likelihood, yet cumulative ground swelling remains below the levels reached before the 2015 eruption. Scientists now plan to update the eruption prediction to late 2026.

Read at Mail Online