Oh, you thought 2020 was bad, buckle up for its sequel. Locals around Yellowstone report a ‘rumbling’ just days after experts gave an eerie warning.
Yes, the dreaded supervolcano is back (it never really left) with vengeance. A 3.2 magnitude earthquake rocked Yellowstone National Park yesterday, and Wyoming residents started to fear the worst.
The residents then took to Twitter to ask the experts about the shaking feeling and the potential of the dreaded supervolcano eruption.
“Thought I felt a rumbling, so I went on http://earthquake.usgs.gov…. no earthquake here but uh… seems like Yellowstone is a bit active… and has been for the last few weeks is that normal?”
Another user seconded the feeling, saying, “I thought I felt a rumbling as well.”
In December, the area saw more than 292 earthquakes.
While Yellowstone has one of the most active volcanic systems in the world, the supervolcano has only erupted three times throughout history, rearing its ugly head nearly 640,000 years ago, 1.3 million years ago, and 2.1 million years ago.
Many fear that Yellowstone is severely overdue for a catastrophic blast. However, the US Geological Survey says otherwise. The experts even say that the explosion may never happen.
In addition, the US Geological Survey says that volcanoes are unpredictable, and even if they did erupt on a timely basis, Yellowstone shouldn’t expect a blast for another 100,000 years.
Dr. Mike Poland Weighs in On Yellowstone’s Supervolcano
Dr. Mike Poland of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory talks about the probability of a super eruption.
“Everyone knows about the giant world-ending explosions. They are very big explosions, not end-of-the-world events, but there have been a few of these that have happened in the last two million years. There was one that happened 2.1 million years ago, a smaller 1.3 million years ago, and then 630,000 years ago, we had the formation of the Yellowstone caldera within the park.”
While Poland says that the chances of a supervolcano eruption are slim, the effects would be catastrophic.
“If that size of thing happened today, it would be very devastating to the central part of the US. We’ve done simulations on how ash would fall, and ash would blanket much of the US. This is probably what happened when this caldera first formed 631,000 years ago. But the chances of this sort of event are very remote. They occur once or twice every million years.”
Although 2020 seemed pretty awful for everyone else, Yellowstone had a pretty average year for earthquakes with around 1,718.
In all, the world isn’t ending just yet. 2021 just started.
