Beyond The Barrio: “Earthquake-Swarm” At Yellowstone Has Geologists Fearing Massive Earthquake Could Be Next

Geologists at Yellowstone National Park have recorded over 400 mini-earthquakes over the past 8 days, leading scientists to wonder if this is the prelude to some larger event. The small earthquakes have come close together over a short period of time and have all been centered around one particular lake, so the event is referred to as an “earthquake-swarm,” which sounds like some kind of ungodly bee-army hiding in the San Andreas fault. What if these mini-earthquakes are just the build-up to some huge event, like a massive earthquake or volcanic explosion? Oh right, did we forget to mention that Yellowstone is also sitting on top of the largest super-volcano in the northern hemisphere?

Geologists are quick to say, however, that although Yellowstone’s super-volcano did explode with devastating consequences 640,000 years ago and will probably do it again at some point, this particular recent event is more likely of the earthquake variety and not the volcanic. Or at least, as park geologist Hank Heasler semi-reassuringly puts it:

“This earthquake swarm is not indicating an imminent volcanic eruption at this time. “

So what can we expect from the earthquake department? Luckily there was a large earthquake swarm at Yellowstone as recently as 1985, so we have something to compare this swarm to. In 1985 the swarm lasted three months and the earthquakes were small enough in magnitude that no serious damage was caused- the seismic patterns of this swarm give geologists no reason to suspect that this series will be any larger.

Because of its position directly on top of the super-volcano, Yellowstone is a highly active geological area, with hundreds of tiny earthquakes occurring per year. They’re usually too small for visitors to even notice, except for the notable exception in 1959, when a massive 7.1 magnitude earthquake caused huge damage and the deaths of 28 people. But precisely because Yellowstone is so seismically active, it’s near-impossible for geologists to predict exactly what this earthquake-swarm could mean, beyond that it’s probably not volcanic. Essentially, there’s no reason to avoid Yellowstone or to expect the entire thing to blow up tomorrow, but it’s also something to keep your eye on.

Fears over earthquake ’swarm’ at Yellowstone National Park [Times Online]
Yellowstone Earthquake Swarm: Latest Supervolcano Update [US News]
Yellowstone Shaken By Swarm Of Earthquakes [NPR]