YELLOWSTONE EARTHQUAKE SWARM: Quakes Rock National Park For Third Straight Day

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Yellowstone National Park was jostled by a host of small earthquakes for a third straight day Monday, and scientists watched closely to see whether the more than 250 tremors were a sign of something bigger to come. Swarms of small earthquakes happen frequently in Yellowstone, but it's very unusual for so many earthquakes to happen over several days, said Robert Smith, a professor of geophysics at the University of Utah.

"They're certainly not normal," Smith said. "We haven't had earthquakes in this energy or extent in many years."

Smith directs the Yellowstone Seismic Network, which operates seismic stations around the park. He said the quakes have ranged in strength from barely detectable to one of magnitude 3.8 that happened Saturday. A magnitude 4 quake is capable of producing moderate damage.

"This is an active volcanic and tectonic area, and these are the kinds of things we have to pay attention to," Smith said. "We might be seeing something precursory.

"Could it develop into a bigger fault or something related to hydrothermal activity? We don't know. That's what we're there to do, to monitor it for public safety."

The strongest of dozens of tremors Monday was a magnitude 3.3 quake shortly after noon. All the quakes were centered beneath the northwest end of Yellowstone Lake.

A park ranger based at the north end of the lake reported feeling nine quakes over a 24-hour period over the weekend, according to park spokeswoman Stacy Vallie. No damage was reported.

"There doesn't seem to be anything to be alarmed about," Vallie said.

Smith said it's difficult to say what might be causing the tremors. He pointed out that Yellowstone is the caldera of a volcano that last erupted 70,000 years ago.

He said Yellowstone remains very geologically active _ and its famous geysers and hot springs are a reminder that a pool of magma still exists five to 10 miles underground.

"That's just the surface manifestation of the enormous amount of heat that's being released through the system," he said.

Yellowstone has had significant earthquakes as well as minor ones in recent decades. In 1959, a magnitude 7.5 quake near Hebgen Lake just west of the park triggered a landslide that killed 28 people.

Comments

[MelRoy]

The caldera is about due to blow. It's been over 600,000 years since the last major eruption. If it happens, all , the flora and fauna in about 1/3rd of North America will be wiped out, a blanket of ash an inch thick will cover the rest of the planet and block out the sun and we will have a new Ice Age.

Oh well, the upside is we don't have to worry about the economy or wars because we'll all be dead.

Happy New Year!!

[kellygrrrl]

guess they heard Cheney is coming back

[heal57]

yeah, that would cause more than a few rumbles

[easarsfield]

lol that's what I was thinking.

It's funny. I go to Jackson Hole a lot, and I have never met a local that likes him.

[JHCowboy]

Cheney is insane. He lives in an insane dreamworld. I think he has had this vendetta for decades since Cheney's great mentor (Richard Nixon) was impeached and then resigned. I think that Cheney decided that he would do all in his power to get vengeance on the system that caused his hero (Nixon) to fall.

[RoloTomassi]

The Yellow Stone volcano in its entirety is friggin' HUGE; if that sucker were to have a full-blown eruption...well, from what I've read about it, I suspect most human socio-political endeavors would quickly become irrelevant. To paraphrase a lyric, all of our grand intentions would FALL TO THE FLOOR.

Ever read Cormac McCarthy's THE ROAD?

[mabinog]

"He pointed out that Yellowstone is the caldera of a volcano that last erupted 70,000 years ago."

And if it erupts again, large portions of the Western US are screwed.

[FZliveson]

Many people have voiced concerns that Yellowstone might be the "ground zero" for a cataclysmic volcanic eruption in our lifetime. Let's hope this is not the initial signs of one. I remember that Mt. St. Helen's eruption had a lot of small earthquakes before she blew her top.

[TJCole]

Mnt. Saint Helen's is a firecracker compare to this..!

[FZliveson]

I know. Let us hope it is just a small burp or F@rt by Mama Nature. The potential for disaster is large. But then a chunk of rock could hit earth any time too. Life is all by the minute.

[marinade]

Ruh-roh....super volcano to start the new year?