The 1955 Hawaiian submarine eruption was a submarine eruption that occurred northeast of Necker Island on August 20, 1955. Steaming water, water discoloration and an eruption column took place during the eruption. A possible pumice raft was also witnessed. The eruption originated about below sea level from an unnamed

submarine volcano Submarine volcanoes are underwater vents or fissures in the Earth's surface from which magma can erupt. Many submarine volcanoes are located near areas of tectonic plate formation, known as mid-ocean ridges. The volcanoes at mid-ocean ridges ...

. The eruption produced a column of smoke several meters high. It is probably the westernmost historical eruption within the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

. Another but less certain submarine eruption may have occurred on May 22, 1956 at the Kaʻena Ridge, northwest of Oahu in the Kaʻieʻie Waho Channel between that island and

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

References

20th-century volcanic events Volcanism of Hawaii Hawaiian Submarine Eruption, 1955 1955 natural disasters August 1955 events in the United States Submarine eruptions {{Hawaii-geo-stub