Old Faithful erupting on a winter's day (photo by Beth Pratt)
Since Sunday evening, a swarm of 469 earthquakes have rattled underneath Yellowstone National Park varying between 0.5 and 3.7 in magnitude. Only five of the quakes have been greater than 3 in magnitude, with 430 registering less than 2.
As Yellowstone sits atop a supervolcano and is considered one of the largest geologic hotspots in the world, seismic activity is common. At this time the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory does not consider the swarm to be unusual and the earthquakes are likely related to tectonic fault sources. Also there is no indication of premonitory volcanic or hydrothermal activity, but ongoing analyses will evaluate these different sources.
Information on the earthquake can be viewed at the University of Utah Seismograph Stations.
Seismograph recordings from stations of the Yellowstone seismograph station can be viewed online.
Anyone who has felt earthquakes in the swarm are encouraged to fill out a form on the USGS Community Felt reports web site.
Comments
EQ Sensitive here. I accurately predicted the Offshore NorCal 6.5 but after Haiti...almost passed this swarm. One sensitive at www.earthquakeepi-center.com noted it before I did...Your account is informative. We watch. We wait. Most swarms fizzle but some swarms sizzle. Remember 1980 Mammoth Lakes' 6.0s? Fizzled...And our Reno/Verdi-Mogul aggressive swarm in 2008? After Apr 25--nothing bigger. www.calorey.com
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PWNED!!!!!!
These earthquakes are not a result of tectonic shifts! The yellowstone supervolcano erupts every 600,000 years and the last one was 640,000 years ago. This is a sign that the volcano is waking up again! Rising magma is the source of the earthquakes.
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