Live video awaits moment of possible underwater volcanic eruption off West Coast
The Axial Seamount sits on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, reaching about 3,500 feet above the surrounding seafloor and poses no threat to the public.
Watch: Video shows actively venting hot spring deposit on Axial Seamount off US West Coast
This video clip comes from a live camera showing 14-foot tall actively venting hot spring deposit called "Mushroom" located within the ASHES vent field on Axial Seamount in the Pacific Ocean.
If you’ve ever wanted to see the moment an underwater volcano begins to erupt in real time, you may be in luck.
It just needs to happen first. And you need to be watching a live stream of the event if and when it does.
UNDERWATER VOLCANO OFF OREGON'S COAST INCHING CLOSER TO ERUPTION, SCIENTISTS SAY
Axial Seamount under Pacific Ocean off U.S. West Coast could erupt this year
This bathymetric map shows the shape and summit caldera (warm colors are shallow depths while cool colors are deeper) at the Axial Seamount.
(Susan Merle/Oregon State University / FOX Weather)
One of the world’s most active volcanoes sits just a few hundred miles off the U.S. West Coast, and some scientists think it’s only a matter of time before it begins to erupt.
But this volcano doesn’t tower thousands of feet into the air. Instead, the Axial Seamount sits about a mile below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, reaching about 3,500 feet above the surrounding seafloor.
The entire region sits atop a plate boundary where Earth’s tectonic plates are spreading apart.
"At Axial, (eruptions) are more frequent because, in addition to being on the plate boundary, it’s also over a hotspot, which is like what’s under Hawaii or Iceland," Bill Chadwick, research professor with Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center, told FOX Weather earlier this year.
Axial Seamount poses no threat to the public, as it sits too deep in the ocean and too far from shore to cause any harm, or for the public to even notice the volcano is erupting.
It was announced in December 2024 that the underwater volcano was creeping toward an eruption, its first since 2015.
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How to watch live video of a possible eruption at Axial Seamount
This image comes from a live stream video of a 14-foot tall actively venting hot spring deposit called "Mushroom" located within the ASHES vent field on Axial Seamount in the Pacific Ocean.
(Ocean Observatories Initiative / FOX Weather)
While there's no guarantee that the Axial Seamount is about to imminently erupt, cameras are in place just in case. And you can have a front-row seat to the action from the comfort of your own home.
The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) has a camera in the area that provides live video of what's taking place under the ocean.
The live video stream shows an actively venting, 14-foot hot spring deposit called "Mushroom" located within the ASHES (Axial Seamount Hydrothermal Emission Study) vent field on Axial Seamount.
The live video streams during the hours of 2, 5, 8 and 11 a.m. and p.m., day and night, for 14 minutes. In addition, the camera also records 24 hours nonstop on the 10th and 20th of every month, and for 72-hours non-stop from the 1st to the 3rd of every month.
You can check out the video by clicking here.