Yellowstone Earthquakes Continue

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — More earthquakes are rattling Yellowstone National Park.

The small quakes include three more Friday that measured stronger than magnitude 3.0. The University of Utah Seismic Stations say the strongest was 3.5.

Several hundred quakes centered under the northern end of Yellowstone Lake have now occurred since Dec. 26. No damage has been reported.

Earthquake swarms happen fairly often in Yellowstone. But scientists say it's unusual for so many earthquakes to happen over several days.

Yellowstone lies mostly in northwestern Wyoming and is the caldera of a volcano that last erupted 70,000 years ago. Scientists have not concluded what is causing the earthquakes.

Comments

[JimmyMorseDotCom]

We can't eat beef because of Mad Cow. Chickens have Bird Flu. Egg Nog gives you Salmonella. Pork raises fears of trichinosis. Fish has mercury. Fruits and vegetable have insecticides and herbicides. Genetically Modified (GM) foods are Frankenfoods. So why worry? There is always Chocolate!

JimmyMorse.com

[eklawson]

If the Yellowstone caldera were to erupt, it may actually provide the solution to both global warming and overpopulation. :D

It would totally suck for us in the Western US though.

[drkazmd65]

Dude,... it would pretty much suck for just about everybody IF it went off at the scale seen 70K years ago.

Although the West would have a ringside view of the mess.

[tobyjack]

Blow baby Blow! The time is ripe to wipe out the parasitic human race that is destroying the earth.

[Chaucea]

Well, I'd rather it be like some pandemic flu that only affected humans, and rendered the very few survivors totally sterile... would rather leave the rest of the inhabitants and allow the planet to heal itself. But yah, the human race lost the privilege of being on this planet a long time ago. :-(

[rnorthro14]

Quakes are calming down. Yeah, its alarming but in the end if the whole thing blew, there is little we can do to prevent the fact it would change the face of humanity on this planet.

In all likelihood, it wouldn't be as big as the last super volcanic eruption which occurred 74 thousand years ago in Toba that nearly caused the extinction of humanity, or 600 thousand years ago in Yellowstone as there is less magma than in previous situations. But it would definitely change things up significantly.

http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/yellowstone_earthquake_swarm_calms/C559/L559/

[Chaucea]

This is an interesting read, regarding this slew of recent earthquakes in the Yellowstone area:

"A Spurt of Quake Activity Raises Fears in Yellowstone"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090105/hl_time/08599186931300

[JulieSA]

Thanks. That was interesting.

[jetphixer]

What rock do these folks live under? Not concluded what is causing them???? I'm an old aircraft mechanic and understand these are usually pre-cursors to a volcanic eruption. Caused by the upper crust shifting where the magma comes close to the surface. Folks News FLASH: There is a volcanic eruption about to happen Wake up Smell the roses......

[rnorthro14]

That would mean thousands of deaths within a few weeks time and millions, perhaps billions over the years following.

Basically end of civilization stuff... Ice age... no growing seasons. The U.S. would be kaput. Damn, and my college football team was going to be really good in 2009!

[SurrealPumpkin]

maybe it will be a burp not a belch?

[drkazmd65]

But,... but,... but,... but,... but,... but,... but,... but,... but,... but,... but,... but,... but,...

Does that mean that the Cubs will NEVER win another World Series?

Damn,...
:D

[Exusian]

Gee, I didn't know geophysics was part of the training of an aircraft mechanic.

Yes, volcanoes that erupt experience precursor seismic activity and earthquakes before they erupt, but not all volcanoes that experience periodic seismic activity and earthquakes subsequently erupt.

That said, if the Yellowstone caldera does produce another mega-volcano super eruption (VEI 8) as it has in the distant past then we can all say goodbye to life in North America, maybe even the Northern Hemisphere, as we know it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Caldera

[alvdh1]

Yellowstone is littered with GPS equipment designed to measure a bulging caldera. If the caldera is expanding upward, it would be instantly obvious to all of the scientists monitoring the area. Let's not panic until there is evidence of upward movement.

[Exusian]

That was kind of my point.