(ETH) – A new report has indicated that Yellowstone volcano experienced more than 1,000 earthquakes last month – a four-year record high that the US Geological Survey (USGS) said will “likely increase” in the coming days according to Express-News.
After a period of intense seismic activity, the USGS has published its monthly report for the Yellowstone National Park and volcano. Stretching across a 43 by a 28-mile section of the Western United States, the supervolcano is one of the nation’s most seismically active regions.
The Yellowstone volcano has also been the site of three cataclysmic eruptions that are estimated to have gone off about 2.1 million, 1.3 million, and 640,000 years ago. The eruptions covered vast swathes of the US in a layer of volcanic ash and should that happen today, the fallout would likely disrupt climate patterns and affect global food production.
The eruptions have also falsely led many to believe Yellowstone erupts like clockwork every 600,000 to 700,000 years and that we are overdue for another blast. And though geologists have assured us time and time again this is not the case, fears about the volcano violently awakening persist.
#Yellowstone July update: “doozy” of a month for EQs (7 swarms, 1000+ EQs, largest a M3.6). Existing faults “goosed” by increased pore pressure (from snow melt) & not magma moving (no change in #deformation data). #DYK: Solitary geyser once fed a swimming pool near Old Faithful? pic.twitter.com/cgXTdGDY7T
— USGS Volcanoes🌋 (@USGSVolcanoes) August 2, 2021
The Idahostatesman reported: “This may seem like a lot, and it is,” Mike Poland, scientist-in-charge at Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, said in a video. “The month was quite a doozy for earthquakes, but it’s not actually the most we’ve seen in any given month.”
Swarms are typical in Yellowstone and account for about half of the total seismic activity in the region, USGS said. Larger swarms have happened before in Yellowstone.
In 2017, more than 1,100 earthquakes shook the region in June, in part because of a swarm of more than 2,400 quakes that lasted three months, Poland said. In 1985, more than 3,000 quakes shook the area.
Some people, however, still worry earthquakes in Yellowstone are a sign that the “supervolcano” that lies beneath the park will soon erupt, which could have regional and global consequences.
