Fears over earthquake 'swarm' at Yellowstone Natio

The super volcano in Yellowstone Park, which includes parts of the states of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, is making its presence felt. On New Year's Day, the situation was so alarming that geologists called for an immediate evacuation of an area within a radius of 325 kilometres around the national park. At a rate of four tremors per hour, an eruption appeared imminent. The tremors have subsided slightly since 1 January, but it would appear the beast is slowly coming awake.

The volcano's caldera, which accounts for much of the park's terrain, measures about 40 by 60 kilometres. About 10 kilometres beneath the surface, a giant reservoir is slowly filling up with magma. Through cracks and fissures, some of its heat rises to the surface in the form of steam and gas, creating the geysers the park is so famous for.

Since a few days ago, it has become abundantly clear this volcano is no longer dormant. Geologist Jan Nieuwenhuis of the Technical University in Delft explained what fate would await the planet if a super volcano like the one below Yellowstone were to explode:

"It would create a hole about 30 kilometres deep and 30 kilometres across. Most of the debris would be blasted into the stratosphere, which means minute particles would be distributed all across the higher layers of the atmosphere. This would obscure the sun and effect global temperatures, which could easily drop by several degrees Celsius. At the site of the explosion, the edges of the huge crater created by the blast could collapse, triggering earthquakes strong enough to destroy the entire United States."

http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/region/northamerica/090108-yellowstone-volcano

I believe that some geologists think this eruption is overdue, but whether it happens today or in 20,000 years is open to question.

Originally posted by Vorian I understand that US is doomed if Yellowstone explodes. What about the rest of the world. Yeah, economically and politically we will be n chaos. What about climate etc?

Vorian- with a volcano that huge the world is doomed to mass starvation, nuclear winter. It would probably affect North America first but then quickly spread around the world. Modern man has not seen a super volcano erupt like in Yellowstone. Thera was the biggest in our history and it is a fire crack compared to this. We are all in trouble but I am not too worried about it. There is also another super volcano but not as big on the east side of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is by Mammoth ski resort and hot springs. There has been some activity there as well but not lately and it is mudh smaller than the Yellowstone caldera but still bigger than Thera. I have been to Yellowstone National Park about 3-4 times but not since 2002. I emailed a geologist who is up on this and he was not too worried about Yellowstone but he told me Thera was not a super volcano. His predictions for earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are very accurate but I cannot recall his web site right now. He was much more worried about Mount Ranier in the Washington Cascade Range. Not a super volcano but big enough to do some serious damage to Seattle.

Edited by eaglecap - 13-Jan-2009 at 18:36

Originally posted by eaglecap If Yellowstone erupted would you be prepared for such a mega disaster as this???? Do you have food stocked up?

I would go loot the local supermarket aprox. 11 minutes after the eruption. Then I would find a gun, gather my family and go to our village, where there are chickens, goats and stuff

Hundreds of earthquakes have hit Yellowstone National Park, raising fears of a more powerful volcanic eruption.

The earthquake swarm, the biggest in more than 20 years, is being closely monitored by scientists and emergency authorities.

The series of small quakes included three last Friday which measured stronger than magnitude 3.0. The strongest since this latest swarm of quakes began on December 27 was 3.9.

No damage has yet been reported but scientists say this level of activity - there have been more than 500 tremors in the last week - is highly unusual.

"The earthquake sequence is the most intense in this area for some years," said the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. Some of the larger earthquakes have been felt by park employees and guests, according to the observatory.

The swarm is occurring beneath the northern part of Yellowstone Lake in the park. Yellowstone sits on the caldera of an ancient supervolcano and continuing geothermal activity can be seen in the picturesque geysers and steam holes, such as Old Faithful.

About 1,000 to 2,000 tremors a year have been recorded since 2004. The most devastating earthquake in recent history in the Yellowstone region occurred on August 17, 1959, when a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit.

It was centered near Hebgen Lake, Montana and it caused landslides that killed 28 people and caused more than $11 million in damage.

Geysers in Yellowstone National park changed eruption times, and new ones began to erupt. On June 30, 1975, a magnitude 6.4 tremor hit the park.

Professor Robert B. Smith, a geophysicist at the University of Utah and one of the leading experts on earthquake and volcanic activity at Yellowstone, said that the swarm was significant.

"It's not business as usual," he said. "This is a large earthquake swarm, and we've recorded several hundred. We are paying careful attention. This is an important sequence."

The last full-scale explosion of the Yellowstone Supervolcano, the Lava Creek eruption which happened approximately 640,000 years ago, ejected about 240 cubic miles of rock and dust into the sky.

Geologists have been closely monitoring the rise and fall of the Yellowstone Plateau as an indication of changes in magma chamber pressure.

The Yellowstone caldera floor has risen recently - almost 3in per year for the past three years - a rate more than three times greater than ever observed since such measurements began in 1923.

From mid-summer 2004 through to mid-summer 2008, the land surface within the caldera moved upwards as much as 8in at the White Lake GPS station. The last major earthquake swarm was in 1985 and lasted three months.

The observatory said similar swarms have occurred in the past without triggering steam explosions or volcanic activity. However, the observatory said there is some potential for explosions and that earthquakes may continue and increase in intensity.

Joe Moore, director of the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security, said his office is tracking the events at Yellowstone on a minute-by-minute basis. "It's being followed very closely," Mr Moore said.

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