Yellowstone Is Rumbling

[theHandpuppet]

This is a list of the 3+ quakes that have occurred between 11 a.m. on the 18th and within the hour on the 21st. Supposedly nothing to concern us, but it does raise my eyebrows. I've been monitoring this site for years now and I'd call this an impressive swarm of 3+ quakes.

http://www.seis.utah.edu/recenteqs/Maps/111-44.html

3.0 2010/01/21 21:09:02 44.559N 110.969W 9.1 16 km (10 mi) SE of West Yellowstone, MT
3.8 2010/01/20 23:16:19 44.567N 110.968W 9.6 15 km ( 9 mi) SE of West Yellowstone, MT
3.7 2010/01/20 23:01:50 44.565N 110.977W 9.0 15 km ( 9 mi) SE of West Yellowstone, MT
3.3 2010/01/19 21:41:03 44.569N 110.966W 9.2 15 km ( 9 mi) SE of West Yellowstone, MT
3.2 2010/01/19 18:35:37 44.561N 110.968W 9.9 16 km (10 mi) SE of West Yellowstone, MT
3.5 2010/01/19 14:32:31 44.562N 110.974W 9.3 15 km ( 9 mi) SE of West Yellowstone, MT
3.3 2010/01/19 09:48:32 44.566N 110.965W 6.7 16 km (10 mi) SE of West Yellowstone, MT
3.0 2010/01/18 21:42:14 44.569N 110.968W 9.8 15 km ( 9 mi) SE of West Yellowstone, MT
3.4 2010/01/18 20:39:39 44.566N 110.969W 10.2 15 km ( 9 mi) SE of West Yellowstone, MT
3.1 2010/01/18 11:03:14 44.560N 110.969W 9.7 16 km (10 mi) SE of West Yellowstone, MT

[msongs]

1. the obama administration can send it some sternly worded bipartisan letters lol nt

[gateley]

7. And it'll take them as seriously as the Republicans do. nt

[Angry Dragon]

Thank you for the laugh

I really needed it tonight....again thank you

[ddeclue]

2. Ruh-roh.. glad I'm in Florida...

[MadHound]

8. If the Yellowstone caldara blows, we're all screwed no matter where you live

Most geologists that I've heard on the subject consider it an extinction level event.

[robo50]

13. Yes, I agree, best and safest place in the world is

somewhere in Tasmania....

Only one person I know there, a former Republican

Oh dear.

[canetoad]

16. Then robo50 you need to acquaint yourself with Tasmania

Instead of showing your ignorant lack of world knowledge by making silly comments.

Tasmania is without a doubt one of the most beautiful and unspoiled places left on earth. The people are generally more relaxed and easy going that other parts of the world. Tasmanians tend to be self-contained yet tolerant; not meddling in the business of others.

There are few displays of gaudy and ostentatious wealth in Tasmania, though I'm sure such wealth exists. Maybe the prevailing culture makes it unattractive to flaunt wealth, certainly the aesthetic that prevails over construction and habitation does not display the lack of charm that quick but cheap building methods produce in other parts of the country.

Tasmania is relaxed about cannabis and gay partnerships. These things are considered part of everyday life; like it or lump it.

DU rules prohibit broad brush smearing of geographic locations of the USA. Please show a little courtesty and help prove to the rest of the world that not all Americans are as boorish and ill-educated as yourself.

[theHandpuppet]

21. I didn't interpret that post in such a negative way as you did

Seemed to me that robo50 was regretting that escaping to Tasmania wasn't a possibility as (she) only knows one person there.

And I've always wanted to go to Tasmania -- seems like a truly fascinating place. :-)

[FourScore]

27. Whoa. Roll one dude.

What set you off?

[gateley]

37. I don't think s/he meant anything negative about Tasmania - (except for

the Republican!) Maybe that it just sounds so far away to most of us who aren't as familiar with it as you? Don't take offense.

[ohheckyeah]

52. Dude..

back that truck up. He wasn't slamming Tasmania.

[TheWatcher]

56. Although I appreciate your informative view on Tasmania

(It really does sound like a cool place by the way) I would encourage you to read the post you were responding to again.

The poster was simply making an observation, there was nothing negative implied.

We're all on edge right now, so misunderstandings and misinterpretations are bound to be more frequent, but please, think before you react.

He meant no harm, and I'm sure you don't either. :)

Let's all take a deep breath.

[MercutioATC]

60. RUN, do not walk, to your doctor.

You need a new Valium prescription.

Seriously.

[Violet_Crumble]

70. Tasmanians are a bunch of sheep-shaggers...

No. Wait a second while I rethink that one. That's right. It's Kiwis who do the sheep and Tasmanians who do their siblings ;)

fwiw, I'm pretty much 110% certain that robo50 wasn't slagging off Tasmania or Tasmanians. They were just saying the only person they knew there was a Republican and it'd count Tasmania out as a destination for them coz they don't know anyone else. They didn't mean any harm and I didn't read anything in what they said to take offense to.

[shawcomm]

54. Yep. Being further away might be like living

further away from a nuclear detonation. It will suck more to be left alive. Surviving the initial blast would mean starvation and cold.

[Hugabear]

12. I live in Florida also - that won't matter much whenever Yellowstone does blow its top

We're talking super-volcano here. It won't just be a regional disaster, it will be a global disaster. The amount of ash that would be ejected into the upper atmosphere would be enough to cause massive worldwide cooling.

[ddeclue]

24. From what I've seen, I'll be out of the primary disaster zone..

[Hugabear]

31. All it means is that you would escape an instant death

Those within the immediate vicinity will be the lucky ones, since they'll die pretty quickly. Those within a few hundred miles will die shortly after - either from asphyxiation from breathing in ash or buildings collapsing under the weight of the ash. The rest of us will face a longer death as temperatures plunge, crops perish, and animals start to die. It's possible that a few small pockets of humanity would survive, but most of us will be gone.

[gateley]

36. Years ago I read a trashy novel about a rich playboy who was up in his

private jet, surrounded by a bevy of babes, and just as he was taking a swig of Dom Perignon from the bottle, the plane blew to smithereens.

I always thought, that's how I'd like to go. Having a good time, with no warning whatsoever.

You're right. The lucky ones would be those in the immediate vicinity.

[gateley]

3. If it's a change from the usual activity, no wonder it raises your eyebrows.

Does this happen periodically, do you know? Historically?

[theHandpuppet]

14. Yellowstone is a continually active area

Thousands of very minor quakes occur annually, but a swarm of 3+ quakes is worth noting. There was a swarm of quakes back in Dec 2008 thru January 2009 that was the subject of much scientific speculation. Here are a couple of links for you about that event:

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/publications/2009/09swarm.php
http://www.livescience.com/environment/081230-yellowstone-earthquake-swarm.html

[gateley]

35. Thanks -- I'll check them out. I always assume that the ground is constantly

moving somewhat (at least here in Seattle), but when something is out of the ordinary I always become a little apprehensive.

I wonder how long before the Dec 2008 activity a similar scenario occurred? I know -- why don't I just go look at the links! :7 :hi:

[theHandpuppet]

48. Here's another really great link for you

http://www.uusatrg.utah.edu/

[gateley]

50. Thanks for this one, too! nt

[Hugabear]

4. If that supervolcano goes off, then we're pretty much fucked.

And that's an understatement.

[BeFree]

5. What little I know...

...tells me that the stress is being relieved a bit at a time rather than BOOM!

If it stops rumbling for an extended period.......

[Terra Alta]

6. if Yellowstone blows

then Brown winning in MA and today's USSC decision will be the least of our problems...

[bemildred]

17. Most of us will have no further problems. nt

[MUAD_DIB]

20. Much of the world will have no further problems.

[Angry Dragon]

23. Then we will not care what congress and the court does

it would solve a lot of problems:)

[bemildred]

34. Indeed not.

Quick, simple, definite.

[Libertas1776]

9. Maybe that Caldera

is getting ready to blow. Sure, would be the cherry on top of this crap fest of a week. Granted, that cherry would involve killing most of the Western US and Canada, if not the whole world with a sun blocking ash cloud. In retrospect, as bad as things have been this week I still would prefer the Caldera not erupt and kill us all.

[bemildred]

10. Yellowstone Caldera

The Yellowstone Caldera is the volcanic caldera in Yellowstone National Park in the United States. The caldera is located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, in which the vast majority of the park is contained. The major features of the caldera measure about 34 miles (55 km) by 45 miles (72 km) as determined by geological field work conducted by Bob Christiansen of the United States Geological Survey in the 1960s and 1970s. After a BBC television science program (Horizon) coined the term supervolcano in 2000, it has often been referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano.

Yellowstone, like Hawaii, is believed to lie on top of an area called a hotspot where light, hot, molten mantle rock rises towards the surface. While the Yellowstone hotspot is now under the Yellowstone Plateau, it previously helped create the eastern Snake River Plain (to the west of Yellowstone) through a series of huge volcanic eruptions. Although the hotspot's apparent motion is to the east-northeast, the North American Plate is really moving west-southwest over the stationary hotspot deep underneath.<3>

Over the past 17 million years or so, this hotspot has generated a succession of violent eruptions and less violent floods of basaltic lava. Together these eruptions have helped create the eastern part of the Snake River Plain from a once-mountainous region. At least a dozen or so of these eruptions were so massive that they are classified as supereruptions. Volcanic eruptions sometimes empty their stores of magma so swiftly that they cause the overlying land to collapse into the emptied magma chamber, forming a geographic depression called a caldera. Calderas formed from explosive supereruptions can be as wide and deep as mid- to large-sized lakes and can be responsible for destroying broad swaths of mountain ranges.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Caldera

[CrownPrinceBandar]

11. Nature's getting ready to put us out of her misery.......

Seriously, that's not good.

[shadowknows69]

66. Could be,

[arcadian]

15. Looks like it's in the Madison area of the park.

[theHandpuppet]

30. Here's a map with an enlarged view of the area that's shaking

http://www.seis.utah.edu/req2webdir/recenteqs/Maps/Yellowstone.html

[Meldread]

18. Shit, shit, fuck, fuck, shit....

:scared:

If that thing blows we can kiss the United States as we know it goodbye, as well as part of Canada and Mexico.

All these powerful aftershocks in Haiti... does anyone know if it's possible to have any impact on Yellowstone?

[fishwax]

26. earthquakes in Yellowstone aren't a sign that it's about to blow

No cause for panic, Meldread :) Yellowstone usually gets a handful of earthquakes every day--the current activity is notable, but in no way unprecedented, and nowhere near the highest recorded in the last few decades. :hi:

[Meldread]

33. I hope you're right. I don't want anymore bad news this week. :P

I don't know enough about earthquakes or volcano's to make an accurate assumption of whether it is good or bad. Although, if I am not mistaken in the case of some volcano's there is some earthquake activity before hand.

Of course, judging on how this week has gone for us, I wouldn't be shocked if we all were dead by Saturday. :P

[sce56]

43. Didn't you see the movie it does not blow until Dec 21 2012!

Takes Woody Harrelson with it!




John Cusack leaving Yellowstone park as it erupts

[neverforget]

53. Most eruptions in Yellowstone have been much smaller than the

cataclysmic super-eruptions.

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/about/faq/faqhistory.php

Questions About Yellowstone Volcanic History
When was the last time there was volcanism at Yellowstone?

The most recent volcanic activity consisted of rhyolitic lava flows that erupted approximately 70,000 years ago. The largest of these flows formed the Pitchstone Plateau in southwestern Yellowstone National Park.

How much volcanic activity has there been at Yellowstone since the most recent giant eruption?

Since the most recent giant caldera-forming eruption, 640,000 years ago, approximately 80 relatively nonexplosive eruptions have occurred. Of these eruptions, at least 27 were rhyolite lava flows in the caldera, 13 were rhyolite lava flows outside the caldera and 40 were basalt vents outside the caldera. Some of the eruptions were approximately the size of the devastating 1991 Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines, and several were much larger. The most recent volcanic eruption at Yellowstone, a lava flow on the Pitchstone Plateau, occurred 70,000 years ago.

How often do volcanic eruptions occur at Yellowstone?

Three extremely large explosive eruptions have occurred at Yellowstone in the past 2.1 million years with a recurrence interval of about 600,000 to 800,000 years. More frequent eruptions of basalt and rhyolite lava flows have occurred before and after the large caldera-forming events. For example, scientists have identified at least 27 different rhyolite lava flows that erupted after the most recent caldera eruptions, about 640,000 years ago, from vents inside the caldera. The most recent was about 70,000 years ago. Many of these eruptions were separated in time by several tens of thousands of years. Because the evidence of earlier eruptions may have been either buried or destroyed, we do not really know how often the volcano has actually erupted.

[Hugabear]

19. Here's a news report on it - over 900 earthquakes since Sunday

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=131231&catid=188

But it doesn't necessarily mean that it's about to blow...

<snip>
"The swarm earthquakes are likely the result of slip on pre-existing faults rather than underground movement of magma," reported the United States Geological Survey on Thursday. "Currently there is no indication of premonitory volcanic or hydrothermal activity."
<snip>

[theHandpuppet]

25. Hopefully this is a case of some pressure being relieved in small doses

Still, I hope this is not a precursor to anything larger.

[theHandpuppet]

45. There are some great maps at this site...

... which illustrate why this latest swarm is the result of slip along the faults rather than a magma-related event:

http://www.gweaver.net/techhigh/projects/period1_2/Yellowstone/Plate%20Tectonics%20Yellowstone.html

[fishwax]

22. earthquake swarms aren't unusual at Yellowstone, and aren't necessarily bad news

There was a swarm a little over a year ago that got a fair amount of attention as well. Some swarms in the past have included over 200 events in a single day.

[csziggy]

28. Release from the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory

Emphasis added.

http://www.seis.utah.edu/EQCENTER/PRESS/yell_press.htm#20100121

Press Release

University of Utah Seismograph Stations

Released: January 21, 2010 2:00 PM MST

This release is a continuation of information updates building upon our two previous press releases on the ongoing earthquake swarm on the west side of Yellowstone National Park. The University of Utah Seismograph Stations reports that a pair of earthquakes of magnitude 3.7 and 3.8 occurred in the evening of January 20, 2010 in Yellowstone National Park.

The first event of magnitude 3.7 occurred at 11:01 PM and was shortly followed by a magnitude 3.8 event at 11:16 PM. Both shocks were located around 9 miles to the southeast of West Yellowstone, MT and about 10 miles to the northwest of Old Faithful, WY. Both events were felt throughout the park and in surrounding communities in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.

These two earthquakes are part of an ongoing swarm in Yellowstone National Park that began January 17, 2010 (1:00 PM MST). The largest earthquake in the swarm as of 12 PM, January 21, 2010, was a magnitude 3.8. There have been 901 located earthquakes in the swarm of magnitude 0.5 to 3.8. This includes 8 events of magnitude larger than 3, with 68 events of magnitude 2 to 3, and 825 events of magnitude less than 2. There have been multiple personal reports of ground shaking from observations inside the Park and in surrounding areas for some of the larger events (for felt reports, please visit http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/dyfi/). Earthquake swarms are relatively common in Yellowstone.

The swarm earthquakes are likely the result of slip on pre-existing faults rather than underground movement of magma. Currently there is no indication of premonitory volcanic or hydrothermal activity, but ongoing observations and analyses will continue to evaluate these different sources.

Seismic information on the earthquake can be viewed at the University of Utah Seismograph Stations: http://www.seis.utah.edu/.

Seismograph recordings from stations of the Yellowstone seismograph network can be viewed online at: http://quake.utah.edu/helicorder/yell_webi.htm.

Anyone who has felt earthquakes in the swarm are encouraged to fill out a form on the USGS Community Felt reports web site: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/dyfi/.

This press release was prepared by the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory partners of the U.S. Geol. Survey, the University of Utah, and the National Park Service: http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/

[theHandpuppet]

32. Thanks for the links.

There's been another 3.0 quake within the past hour.

[backscatter712]

29. Big deal. Yellowstone's always rumbling.

It's a volcanic caldera - there's always been seismic activity there since before humans evolved as a species.

Best not to worry about it - the caldera's not likely to erupt in our lifetimes, and in the unlikely event that it does, we're completely fucked anyways.

[glinda]

38. thanks for the comforting words. not.

[bemildred]

39. YELLOWSTONE SUPERVOLCANO GETTING READY TO BLOW ITS CORK

updated 1-5-09

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

Well said.

[Hugabear]

40. Please don't post links to bat-shit crazy websites like that

I mean seriously, do you really need to post such an inflammatory headline, and then link to a website that has THIS nonsense?

<snip>
Then Menno asks if we will be struck soon by that meteor an angel had told him
about years ago. This angel said no, not that one. Then, I saw a meteor hit the
earth and the angel said, it will strike in the ocean near Yukatuk, Alaska. It will
cause a tidal wave all up and down the west coast. It will trigger the volcano in
Yellowstone. Then I saw the volcano with dark, gray, billowing smoke rising up
out of it. Menno asks me if I was sure it was Yellowstone. I asked him if he ever
saw Yellowstone's volcano. He said yes.
<snip>

[bemildred]

41. This is DU. We post what we like as long as it doesn't violate The Rules.

:hi:

[ima_sinnic]

63. lol! that's some crazy stuff!

:silly:

:wtf:

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

42. it's not 12/21/2012 yet --- relax

[bemildred]

46. So, still time for a couple of Budweisers(tm)? nt

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

51. YES ! several infact

[niyad]

47. welcome to DU

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

49. thank you

i have been reading for years "but mostly from work, I am a bad bad cooperate slave"

[uppityperson]

57. OMG OMG OMG OMGOM G OMGOMGOMGOMOGMG!!!1111

[DrCory]

61. LOL...Whole lotta crazy in that link! N/T

[Codeine]

62. That's a link chockful of concentrated stupidity.

Industrial-strength crazy seems to be about typical for any science topic at DU anymore.

[blondeatlast]

68. Heh, I've learned more science from the stupidity debunkers here than I leaned in HS!

And it was a lot more fun, too. :rofl:

[Gregorian]

44. Well I'm bored with life as we know it.

I could use a little excitement.

Wouldn't it be fun to see tea baggers try and protest a supervolcano? Well I do. Even if I have to fry just to see it.

[JVS]

55. ROCK ON!!!!

[johnaries]

58. Hmmmm, it is past due. But nothing we can do about it so I'm

not going to obsess over it.

[TicketyBoo]

59. Time for the Serenity Prayer.

[Biker13]

64. I Live 150 Miles South Of Yellowstone...

I figure I'd have just enough time to say "Oh Fu".

[shadowknows69]

67. Maybe not even that.

The rest of us might just get to finish the sentence.

[Violet_Crumble]

71. I'd be able to go 'wtf was that all about?' AND watch the movie about Yellowstone erupting...

The acting in that was really bad....

[shadowknows69]

65. Nice knowing you all. We humans had a fairly pitiful run, but I had my fun.

[donheld]

69. 2012

:D

[AnnieBW]

72. It's God's Punishment on Dick Cheney!

He's from Wyoming, right? :D I mean, if the Haitian earthquake was God's punishment for a 200-year-old pact with the devil, and Katrina was a punishment for teh gayz, then what will the explosion of a supervolcano in Cheney's backyard be?

Seriously, I'm really feeling called to visit Yellowstone soon. Maybe because she's getting ready to blow?

[NutmegYankee]

73. So long and thanks for the Fish!

:beer: As long as my supply of beer outlasts the choking dust, I'll be happy.

[truebrit71]

74. Supposedly fairly typical activity...but

I must confess it does make me a little more nervous than usual..