The Axial Seamount volcano may (or may not) have erupted off the coast of Oregon and Washington

By Jack Brummet, Rim of Fire Ed.

Over 80 scientists from around the world gathered in Seattle last week to discuss the first time that seafloor instruments were providing a real-time look at the active, submarine volcano Axial Seamount off the Northwest coast. The signs all pointed to it erupting soon. it might erupt soon. Sandi Doughton of the Seattle Times wrote: "But even the researchers most closely monitoring were stunned by what happened next" (doesn't that sound like clickbait?!), As it turns out, Axial may have actually erupted.

On Thursday, April 23, the new sensors placed on and near the volcano (see photo below) recorded 8,000 small earthquakes in a 24-hour period. The volcano’s caldera, which had been expanding rapidly with magma, collapsed like a deflated balloon.

Scientists are debating whether  this was actually an eruption, with actual molten rock flowing over the seafloor. No instruments were destroyed and there was no temperature spike. It is possible the volcano didn't erupt, but filled subterranean fissures, with lava.

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The Eruption of Mount Edgecumbe

By Jack Brummet, Volcanology Ed.

Photo by Harold Wahlman

This is a leftover from April Fool's Day I never got around to posting.  The residents of Sitka, Alaska woke up on April 1, 1974 to see clouds of black smoke were rising from the crater of Mount Edgecumbe, a dormant, nearby volcano. People went out into the streets to gaze up at the volcano, terrified that it would erupt. 

A local practical joker named Porky Bickar had flown hundreds of old tires into the volcano's crater and lit them on fire (note the day this occurred) to fool city dwellers into believing the volcano was coming back to life.

Great prank.  How can I fly a few hundred tires into the crater of Mount Rainier?

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