Scientists watch unusual Yellowstone quake swarm

[Antaletriangle]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/...uakes_all.html
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...-SpOwD95CL4J80
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Scientists are closely monitoring more than 250 small earthquakes that have occurred in Yellowstone National Park since Friday. Swarms of small earthquakes happen frequently in Yellowstone. But Robert Smith, a professor of geophysics at the University of Utah, says it's very unusual to have so many over several days.

The largest tremor was Saturday and measured magnitude 3.8.

Smith says it's hard to say what might be causing the tremors but notes that Yellowstone is very geologically active. An active volcano there last erupted 70,000 years ago.
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-...o-caldera.html
Yellowstone Earthquakes Under Supervolcano Caldera
December 30, 2008 05:47 AM ET | James Pethokoukis | Permanent Link | Print
The headline "Scientists track unusual earthquake swarm beneath Yellowstone" only means one thing to fans of the Discovery channel like myself: supervolcano. Here is what the earthquake center at the University of Utah had to say yesterday afternoon:

The University of Utah Seismograph Stations reports that a notable swarm of earthquakes has been underway since December 26 beneath Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park, three to six miles south-southeast of Fishing Bridge, Wyoming. This energetic sequence of events was most intense on December 27, when the largest number of events of magnitude 3 and larger occurred.

The largest of the earthquakes was a magnitude 3.9 (revised from magnitude 3.8) at 10:15 pm MST on Dec. 27. The sequence has included nine events of magnitude 3 to 3.9 and approximately 24 of magnitude 2 to 3 at the time of this release. A total of more than 250 events large enough to be located have occurred in this swarm. Reliable depths of the larger events are up to a few miles. Visitors and National Park Service (NPS) employees in the Yellowstone Lake area reported feeling the largest of these earthquakes.

Earthquakes are a common occurrence in the Yellowstone National Park area, an active volcanic-tectonic area averaging 1,000 to 2,000 earthquakes a year. Yellowstone's 10,000 geysers and hot springs are the result of this geologic activity. A summary of the Yellowstone's volcanic history is available on the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory web site (listed below).

This December 2008 earthquake sequence is the most intense in this area for some years and is centered on the east side of the Yellowstone caldera. Scientists can not identify any causative fault or other feature without further analysis. Seismologists continue to monitor and analyze the data and will issue new information if the situation warrants it.

The University of Utah operates a seismic network in Yellowstone National Park in conjunction with the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). These three institutions are partners in the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

And what if the supervolcano blew? Kind of like if a giant rock hit the Earth. A planet killer. An extinction-level event. Let me quote the words of President Tom Beck (Morgan Freeman) in the comet-hitting-earth film Deep Impact::

Within a week, the skies will be dark with dust from the impact and they will stay dark for years. All plant life will be dead within weeks. Animal life within a few months. So that's it. Good luck to us all.

Such a scenario would be very bad for equity values and the outlook for the labor market.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7013563336
Yellowstone Naional Park, MT (AHN) - More than 250 small earthquakes have shaken Yellowstone National Park since Friday.

The earthquakes have occurred in an area of the park where the temblors are common, scientists at the University of Utah say.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...-SpOwD95COBD00
Scientists eye unusual swarm of Yellowstone quakes
By MEAD GRUVER – 10 hours ago

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — 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.


However, that number of earthquakes in such a short space of time is unusual, officials say.

According to the University of Utah Seismograph Stations, the quakes have been centered beneath Yellowstone Lake some five to nine miles south-southeast of Fishing Bridge. They are shallow temblors, anywhere from less than 2 miles below the earth's surface to near it, according to reports.

The earthquakes started on Friday and continued over the weekend, growing in strength. The strongest quake was 3.8 magnitude.

Yellowstone National Park is on top of an active volcano that last erupted 7,000 years ago.

Although scientists don't know why there have been so many earthquakes over such a short span of time they are monitoring the situation.

[Avid]

Hmmmm - web bot predictions of the mass panic along with uncontrolled bowel movements? Or the death toll being in the millions whatever is coming?

Or perhaps something to do with the gravitational pull of the moon....

Yellowstone is part of the Ring of Fire, and the latest rumblings across the globe may be connected....

Or HAARP...?

http://www.iris.edu/seismon/last30.html
Last 30 days of rising pressures.

[Antaletriangle]

Yellowstone appears to have had a pattern of MAJOR eruptions every 600,000 years or so and it's overdue by a few thousand for the next one-
"Scientists have revealed that Yellowstone Park has been on a regular eruption cycle of 600,000 years. The last eruption was 640,000 years ago…so the next is overdue. The next eruption could be 2,500 times the size of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption. Volcanologists have been tracking the movement of magma under the park and have calculated that in parts of Yellowstone the ground has risen over seventy centimeters this century."

The Yellowstone region has produced three exceedingly large volcanic eruptions in the past 2.1 million years. In each of these cataclysmic events, enormous volumes of magma erupted at the surface and into the atmosphere as mixtures of red-hot pumice, volcanic ash (small, jagged fragments of volcanic glass and rock), and gas that spread as pyroclastic (“fire-broken”) flows in all directions. Rapid withdrawal of such large volumes of magma from the subsurface then caused the ground to collapse, swallowing overlying mountains and creating broad cauldron-shaped volcanic depressions called “calderas.”

The first of these caldera-forming eruptions 2.1 million years ago created a widespread volcanic deposit known as the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff, an outcrop of which can be viewed at Golden Gate, south of Mammoth Hot Springs. This titanic event, one of the five largest individual volcanic eruptions known anywhere on the Earth, formed a caldera more than 60 miles (100 km) across.

A similar, smaller but still huge eruption occurred 1.3 million years ago. This eruption formed the Henrys Fork Caldera, located in the area of Island Park, west of Yellowstone National Park, and produced another widespread volcanic deposit called the Mesa Falls Tuff.
The region’s most recent caldera-forming eruption 640,000 years ago created the 35-mile-wide, 50-mile-long (55 by 80 km) Yellowstone Caldera. Pyroclastic flows from this eruption left thick volcanic deposits known as the Lava Creek Tuff, which can be seen in the south-facing cliffs east of Madison, where they form the north wall of the caldera. Huge volumes of volcanic ash were blasted high into the atmosphere, and deposits of this ash can still be found in places as distant from Yellowstone as Iowa, Louisiana, and California.

Each of Yellowstone’s explosive caldera-forming eruptions occurred when large volumes of “rhyolitic” magma accumulated at shallow levels in the Earth’s crust, as little as 3 miles (5 km) below the surface. This highly viscous (thick and sticky) magma, charged with dissolved gas, then moved upward, stressing the crust and generating earthquakes. As the magma neared the surface and pressure decreased, the expanding gas caused violent explosions. Eruptions of rhyolite have been responsible for forming many of the world’s calderas, such as those at Katmai National Park, Alaska, which formed in an eruption in 1912, and at Long Valley, California.

If another large caldera-forming eruption were to occur at Yellowstone, its effects would be worldwide. Thick ash deposits would bury vast areas of the United States, and injection of huge volumes of volcanic gases into the atmosphere could drastically affect global climate. Fortunately, the Yellowstone volcanic system shows no signs that it is headed toward such an eruption. The probability of a large caldera-forming eruption within the next few thousand years is exceedingly low.


http://www.solcomhouse.com/yellowstone.htm

[pyrangello]

Well talk about a dedicated Avalon Family member , I just booked my ticket for my annual stay in west yellowstone, 38 miles from the quakes, I figured I would get a first hand account for all of you to make sure were gonna be safe for a while. I'll be going out there in about 2 weeks so if I need any special equipment for the quakes , I'm open for ideas. comments??

For the record, been going to west yellowstone for the past 13 years , annual snowmobile trip , we usually ride 100 miles a day and get up in the mountains at 10,000 ft. We also get the avalanche reports every morning too! I'm certainley not a hero when it comes to look at a 1000 ft snow drift ready to go. This is truly some of the best snowmobiling , powder and scenery you can experience, oh and of course getting some air on the sled
at times. We don't usually ride in the park as there are 600 miles of groomed trails outside of west yellowstone in montana, idaho, and wyoming.

So I just want to let you know how dedicated I am to all of you around the world, my extended family. Any suggestions for quake and avalanche supplies would be welcomed, ex. spam, candles, wine, LOL

[Antaletriangle]

Enjoy your stay there pyrangello-your name is nearly pyroclastic!!lol.

[pyrangello]

Oh there's a story about this name, my other buddies nicknames are docongello, orangello, and conehead. Docs a surgeon 20,000 under his belt,orangello a V.P. of a Rigging company, and conehead is self employed.
I'll tell ya that story at another time.

But what I will do is give you daily updates live from the quake zone of how many coffe cups fell off the counter. Looking out for all of you angle!

[Swanny]

Am I right in thinking that if Yellowstone pops it's game over for all of us???

[Antaletriangle]

Cheers pyrangello-swanster, yeah if that goes at full whack it's a world extinction event.It will go as things stand but scientists still have no reassurances on when-all they can do is monitor the earthquakes and hydrothermal/volatile activity.It's a scenario that is outrageous really because it could go anytime from now, this second to a couple of thousand years or more hence.If scientists get more significant warnings like more frequent and agressive quakes then they could evacuate and warn us but there's nowhere to run in the longterm-only for the underground guys with their palaces and jacuzzis built in 'safe' zones!?

[waitinginthewings]

I'll bet there is a lot of UFO's flying around Yellownstone park these days, monitoring things.

If this really does blow, how much geographical damage could it do? anyone know anything on this?

[Visvasa144]

Yellowstone? i just posted "End Days" part 1 of 6. it has some end days scenarios and one of them is Yellowstone blowing. its an interesting show.

http://projectavalon.net/forum/showthread.php?t=9461

[Dantheman62]

Historically, four types of volcanic events have taken place in Yellowstone (you may click on each one to learn more):

1. Caldera Forming Eruptions -- 2.1 and 1.3 million years ago
2. Lava Flows -- about 30 between 640,000 and 70,000 years ago
3. Earthquakes -- 1000 to 3000 yearly; last notable quake was in 1959
4. Hydrothermal (Steam) Explosions -- small explosions in the 20th century; a
dozen or so major explosions between 14,000 and 3,000 years ago

"So what exactly is a supervolcano? Just picture a volcano with 10,000 times the explosive force of Mount St. Helens. And unlike Mount Fuji, supervolcanoes aren’t available in nice cone shapes. Rather, these extreme volcanoes form in depressions called calderas, where the magma gets so thick that gas can’t escape. The pressure keeps building and building until all hell literally breaks loose.

We have our very own supervolcano under Yellowstone National Park. The entire park. In fact, the caldera under Yellowstone [wiki] is so big – 4,000 square kilometers – no one knew it was there until satellite images told us so. By all estimates, it erupts about every 600,000 years, and the last eruption was 640,000 years ago. We’re due.

So what happens if it blows? The last eruption of a supervolcano was at Lake Toba in Sumatra 75,000 years ago. So much ash was released into the atmosphere that the sun was blocked out, the global temperature dropped 21 degrees, and three-quarters of all plant life in the Northern Hemisphere died. Ice age, anyone? Hopeful geologists content that we may be saved by the venting that occurs at Yellowstone through geysers like Old Faithful, relieving a bit of pressure from the caldera. Let’s hope they’re right."

http://www.neatorama.com/2007/02/13/...ral-disasters/

[Swanny]

Originally Posted by waitinginthewings

I'll bet there is a lot of UFO's flying around Yellownstone park these days, monitoring things.

If this really does blow, how much geographical damage could it do? anyone know anything on this?

Like has been said, if it blows it's game over for all us lot

[Antaletriangle]

This is a report from 5 years ago about the lake and yellowstone region:

Scientists Closely
Monitoring Yellowstone
ProLiberty.com
12-23-3

Recent eruptions, 200 degree ground temperatures, bulging magma and 84 degree water temperatures prompt heightened srutiny of park's geothermal activity...

BILLINGS, Mont. -- Yellowstone National Park happens to be on top of one of the largest "super volcanoes" in the world. Geologists claim the Yellowstone Park area has been on a regular eruption cycle of 600,000 years. The last eruption was 640,000 years ago making the next one long overdue. This next eruption could be 2,500 times the size of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption. Volcanologists have been tracking the movement of magma under the park and have calculated that, in parts of Yellowstone, the ground has risen over seventy centimeters this century.

In July, 2003, Yellowstone Park rangers closed the entire Norris Geyser Basin because of deformation of the land and excessive high ground temperatures. There is an area that is 28 miles long by 7 miles wide that has bulged upward over five inches since 1996, and this year the ground temperature on that bulge has reached over 200 degrees (measured one inch below ground level).

There was no choice but to close off the entire area. Everything in this area is dying: The trees, flowers, grass and shrubs. A dead zone is developing and spreading outward. The animals are literally migrating out of the park.

Then during the last part of July one of the Park geologists discovered a huge bulge at the bottom of Yellowstone Lake. The bulge has already risen over 100 feet from the bottom of the lake and the water temperature at the surface of the bulge has reached 88 degrees and is still rising.

Keep in mind that Yellowstone Lake is a high mountain lake with very cold water temperatures. The Lake is now closed to the public. It is filled with dead fish floating everywhere. The same is true of the Yellowstone river and most of the other streams in the Park. Dead and dying fish are filling the water everywhere.
Many of the picnic areas in the Park have been closed and people visiting the Park usually stay but a few hours before leaving since the stench of sulfur is so strong they literally can't stand the smell.

The irony of all this is the silence by the news media and our government. Very little information is available from Yellowstone personnel or publications. What mainstream newsstories do appear underscore the likelihood of a massive volcanic eruption. Though geologists publicly admit Yellowstone is "overdue," they have been quoted as stating another massive magma release may not occur for 100,000 or 2 million years. Others close to the story are convinced that a massive eruption is imminent. A source that has demonstrated first-hand knowledge of the park's history and recent geothermal events stated the following: "The American people are not being told that the explosion of this 'super volcano' could happen at any moment. When Yellowstone does blow, some geologists predict that every living thing within six hundred miles is likely to die. The movement of magma has been detected just three-tenths of a mile below the bulging surface of the ground in Yellowstone raising concerns that this super volcano may erupt soon."


This report was taken from a series of articles, emails and official information
http://www.proliberty.com/observer/20031219.htm

http://www.rense.com/general46/moniot.htm
Scientists are saying that the earthquakes that are currently occurring is nothing for concern as they're occurring throughout the year in this particular area-what concerns them a little is the amount of quakes that have occurred over the past few days;300 or so when the area averages 1-2,000 a year.

[Kly]

armageddononline.tripod.com/volcano.htm

When will it next erupt?
Scientist have discovered that the ground in Yellowstone if 74cm higher than in was in 1923 - indicating a massive swelling underneath the park. The reservoir is filling with magma at an alarming rate. The volcano erupts with a near-clockwork cycle of every 600,000 years. The last eruption was more than 640,000 years ago - we are overdue for annihilation.

What would be the effect of an eruption?
Immediately before the eruption, there would be large earthquakes in the Yellowstone region. The ground would swell further with most of Yellowstone being uplifted. One earthquake would finally break the layer of rock that holds the magma in - and all the pressure the Earth can build up in 640,000 years would be unleashed in a cataclysmic event.
Magma would be flung 50 kilometres into the atmosphere. Within a thousand kilometres virtually all life would be killed by falling ash, lava flows and the sheer explosive force of the eruption. Volcanic ash would coat places as far away as Iowa and the Gulf of Mexico. One thousand cubic kilometres of lava would pour out of the volcano, enough to coat the whole of the USA with a layer 5 inches thick. The explosion would have a force 2,500 times that of Mount St. Helens. It would be the loudest noise heard by man for 75,000 years, the time of the last super volcano eruption. Within minutes of the eruption tens of thousands would be dead.

The long-term effects would be even more devastating. The thousands of cubic kilometres of ash that would shoot into the atmosphere could block out light from the sun, making global temperatures plummet. This is called a nuclear winter. As during the Sumatra eruption a large percentage of the world's plant life would be killed by the ash and drop in temperature. Also, virtually the entire of the grain harvest of the Great Plains would disappear in hours, as it would be coated in ash. Similar effects around the world would cause massive food shortages. If the temperatures plummet by the 21 degrees they did after the Sumatra eruption the Yellowstone super volcano eruption could truly be an extinction level event.

With any questions or comments on this, post a message on my forum

I've opened the Armageddon Store selling great books, videos and DVDs related to the end of the world.

[Dantheman62]

Here's a good link.. http://www.unmuseum.org/supervol.htm

another one http://www.earthmountainview.com/yel...ellowstone.htm

[Swanny]

Enjoy your trip pyrangello
If I blows I'll wave as you fly past England


From your link Dan

As fascinating as the history of Yellowstone volcano is, however, most professional geologists who study the site are not concerned that the park is on the brink of a catastrophic eruption. The bulge on the bottom of the lake may have been there for thousands of years, but not noticed until the recent survey. Changes in the geyser activity is not unusual. New geysers have appeared throughout the history of the park, while others go dormant. Rangers often shut down parts of trails or alter them as needed.

The land near the center of the caldera did rise more than three feet between 1923 and 1985. However, between 1985 and 1992 it actually subsided six inches. Studies of the shorelines of Yellowstone Lake have led scientists to believe this is a regular phenomenon. The caldera floor has risen and fallen at least three times in the last 10,000 years, moving as far as 65 feet.

The idea that Yellowstone may be "overdue" is also faulty. With only three catastrophic eruptions and two intervals between to go on there is not enough data to say that another one should be occurring in the near future.

[Dantheman62]

Funny Swanny!, and if you see this cloud over Yellowstone pyrangello...run fast!

[Avid]

Hang on a mo', I'm putting me pinny on afore trudging around wid the gas mask on - trundling me trolley with the giant W.I. kettle, all you'se y'uns gagging for a cuppa blink an eye....
And it hasn't even happened yet! Get a grip you lot

[Antaletriangle]

That's a rather uncouth cloud!lol.

[pyrangello]

Swanny I'll be sure to pencil ya in with my new handy dandy quakeshut, it opens upon eruption and comes with 10 hours of breathing air! I may even have a greetings streamer behind me.

I just looked on the USGS site 176 quakes in the last 3 days, it could be building up to let down or just another cycle. I still remember "Boriska the indigo child on the camelot site saying 2009 was a very bad year on earth". Let's keep the opposite in our thoughts.

I'll be calling my buddy tonight in west yellowstone, I'm gonna use the SWAG method " Scientific Wild Axx Guess" and ask him if any animals appear to be acting strange there or leaving. Also there is the wild grizzly preserve and wolf preserve and see if any of the wolfs or bears are acting strange there to.Man it's cool to listen to them howl at night while your there and its rare, but if you get to see and hear them how precious that is. I remember when the tsunami hit in Banda Ache sp.? and all the cows went to higher ground before it came in. They knew something.

I'll let ya know what he says tommorrow. Keep the suggestions coming , It's pretty entertaining and I we all need some laughs!

[Carmen]

Talking about unusual happening in nature; A friend of mine was fishing at night a couple of nights ago and he noticed something he'd never experienced before. Usually when fishing at night he hears all the sounds of night birds. This night he heard nothing, absolutely nothing. No bird sound None at all. And in all of his years of fishing that had never happened before.

[Antaletriangle]

Pyrangello-Just keep your eyes open for potential avalanche whilst enjoying yersen-also take yer camera for the UFO's!!lol.

[Swanny]

Originally Posted by Dantheman62

Funny Swanny!, and if you see this cloud over Yellowstone pyrangello...run fast!

Hehe excellent cloud

[Avid]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/env...rthquakes.html

"More than 250 tremors have been recorded since Friday including nine greater than magnitude 3.0 on the Richter scale, according to the University of Utah. The largest, a magnitude 3.9, struck on Saturday and the area was shaken by a 3.3 tremor just after midday on Monday.
While earthquakes are common in the giant park, which covers parts of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana and experiences about 1,000 to 2,000 tremors a year, the intense burst of seismic activity lasting several days has been described as unusual.
"They're certainly not normal," said Robert Smith, a professor of geophysics at the University of Utah. "We haven't had earthquakes of this energy or extent in many years."
Mr Smith, director of the Yellowstone Seismic Network, which operates seismic stations around the park, said the earthquakes have ranged in strength from barely detectable to Saturday's 3.9. A magnitude 4 earthquake 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," he 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."
So far, all the quakes have been centred beneath the northwest end of Yellowstone Lake. No damage has been reported and a park spokeswoman said there did not appear to be cause for alarm.
Yellowstone is situated on a giant, geologically active feature known as a supervolcano and boasts some 75 per cent of the world's geysers. Much of the park sits in a caldera, or crater, which was formed when the massive volcano erupted 70,000 years ago.
Last year a report in the journal Science found the park's central region was rising up at a rate of up to 7cm a year due to the movement of a pool of magma several miles below the surface.
Mr Smith said it was difficult to say what might be causing the current tremors. He added that the park's famous geysers and hot springs were a reminder of the magma underground.
"That's just the surface manifestation of the enormous amount of heat that's being released through the system," he said.
In 1959, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake near Hebgen Lake just west of Yellowstone National Park triggered a landslide that killed 28 people"