MEXICO: An underwater volcano 300 miles off the Oregon Coast appears to have erupted again, just as an Oregon State geologist predicted.
The volcano known as the Axial Seamount previously erupted in 2011 and 1998.
It poses no threat to humans. But research on the volcano may someday help predict volcanic eruptions elsewhere.
“This is a really common phenomenon on earth, but we know very little about it because the oceans make it so hard to see what’s going on down there,” according to Dr. Bill Chadwick, an Oregon State geologist.
In 2006, he and a colleague predicted the Axial Seamount would erupt again before 2014. The volcano erupted in 2011.
Last September, the researchers predicted another eruption would take place in 2015.
An uptick in earthquakes in the area – from 1,000 up to 8,000 the day of the presumed eruption – is one piece of evidence pointing toward a new eruption.
Researchers plan to launch an expedition this summer to visit the site and use submersible vehicles to visually inspect the area where they believe the eruption took place, based on data from the sensors.
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