Whats going on at yellowstone?

For some perspective on the potential damage:

discovery

Actually Discovery came out with a movie called "Supervolcano" a while back. The acting was terrible but the science was apparently accurate.

Scary stuff.

Originally posted by SLAYER69
Isnt it like the more it rumbles the less danger there is of something major happening, Releasing energy a little bit at a time. Instead of all of a sudden BOOM!

Atleast thats what they told us growing up in CaLI

That's true of earthquakes. Smaller movements can prevent plate boundries from "sticking". Generally, the movement occurs in small increments rather than letting go all at once when the built up pressure is released.

A Volcano is a different monster altogether. Many times swarms of earthquakes occur preceding an eruption, which is thought to be an indication of magma moving below the surface. Unusually high levels of gasses can be detected as well before "events". I'm sure they'll be all over it by Monday.

Im in Casper Wy, not all that far from Yellowstone, did not feel anything out here. Yellowstone is long overdue of its cycle of outbursts according to geologists. It could be closer than they thought, but if it builds up any it should make itself known here and the surrounding states in the area.



Cheers!!!!

Originally posted by lernmore
Many times swarms of earthquakes occur preceding an eruption, which is thought to be an indication of magma moving below the surface. Unusually high levels of gasses can be detected as well before "events". I'm sure they'll be all over it by Monday.

Well, so do 12 earthquakes in the last 15 hours within 2 miles of each other constitute a "swarm" ????

And also, do they increase in intensity? These so far have gone up and down in intensity.

[edit on 28-12-2008 by TrueAmerican]

reply to post by RFBurns



If we are lucky then yes it would make itself known.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), no human has seen true activity from the caldera. That is an area that geologists and seismologists have stated that if something could blow without notice, yellowstone is it.

From that docu I saw they said that the midwest and eastward would be totaly waisted by an unbelievable blast on a scale we have not seen on Earth in something like a million years, man if that thing went like it once did we would have a new myth of the Americas in about 10.000 years.

I live in the Pacific northwest so I should be ok from the initial blast but not from the after math



[edit on 28-12-2008 by SLAYER69]

holy crap, look at the depths of all 12 of those quakes! They are within 1 mile or so of each other. Something might be up here folks. So an area 2 miles wide by 1 mile deep is clearly acting up consistently.

reply to post by TrueAmerican


As long as its not magma trying to find a route to the surface, I think we will be ok...

But, if that is whats happening.... good luck to us all.

Originally posted by TwiTcHomatic

But, if that is whats happening.... good luck to us all.

I've always loved you guys

reply to post by SLAYER69


Right that's it, I'm buying a gun!

If that volcano comes near me ...

Predictions are that the sufuric cloud will travel 300 miles within 30 minutes after the initial blast. Welp, not much time to zip down south along I-25 but I have told folks here to head for the mountians south of Casper and stay under the pines and take oxygen masks and plenty of filters cuz all that soot will settle and bury everything, and if there is any massive laval flow, and all one needs is to look at a topographical map of Wy and see that lava flow has gone almost straight down the middle of the state eons ago, it would do the same thing again and follow the path already there.

Time to rock n roll!!




Cheers!!!!

The University of Utah Seismograph Stations reports that a swarm of small earthquakes of magnitude 3.5 and smaller is occurring beneath Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park, five to nine miles south-southeast of Fishing Bridge, Wyoming. The swarm began yesterday afternoon, Dec. 26, and has continued and intensified today. The two largest earthquakes in this swarm have been shocks of magnitude 3.5 and 3.4 which occurred at 1:17 and 1:26 pm MST, respectively, today. Many smaller earthquakes have also occurred, including three events this morning of magnitude 2.5 to 2.8 and a magnitude 3.2 event at 3:30 pm MST. Some of the earthquakes in the swarm have been reported felt by people in the Yellowstone Lake area. Swarms of this nature are relatively common in this part of Yellowstone Park.

From 1,000 to 3,000 earthquakes typically occur each year within Yellowstone National Park and its immediate surroundings. Although most are too small to be felt, these quakes reflect the active nature of the Yellowstone region, one of the most seismically active areas in the United States. Each year, several quakes of magnitude 3 to 4 are felt by people in the park.

Although some quakes are caused by rising magma and hot-ground-water movement, many emanate from regional faults related to crustal stretching and mountain building. For example, major faults along the Teton, Madison, and Gallatin Ranges pass through the park and likely existed long before the beginning of volcanism there. Movements along many of these faults are capable of producing significant earthquakes. The most notable earthquake in Yellowstone’s recent history occurred in 1959. Centered near Hebgen Lake, just west of the park, it had a magnitude of 7.5. This quake caused $11 million in damage (equivalent to $70 million in 2005 dollars) and killed 28 people, most of them in a landslide that was triggered by the quake.

Geologists conclude that large earthquakes like the Hebgen Lake event are unlikely within the Yellowstone Caldera itself, because subsurface temperatures there are high, weakening the bedrock and making it less able to rupture. However, quakes within the caldera can be as large as magnitude 6.5. A quake of about this size that occurred in 1975 near Norris Geyser Basin was felt throughout the region.

www.yellowstone.net...

Bah, we're just fearmongering. I can't see another 12 measly earthquakes making much of a difference if there are 1000's each year within Yellowstone. But I am still curious about these characteristics I pointed out. Probably the same as other swarms and nothing to worry bout.

Yes, that may be true, but in the past 2 years.... this is the largest swarm that has manifested.

Lets face the facts... the region is overdue. We will see a major EQ/volcanic event on U.S. soil in our lifetimes.

I will wait for more independent theories and observations that will be coming out the the seismology world over the coming days.

You have to remember, the powers that be would obviously not want you to worry about such things. If you did.. you would put things like taxes and work on the back burner.

well, me = bed.

www.seis.utah.edu...

Any of yous gonna be up for a while you might want to keep refreshing that link to see if any others happen. Good night, and hope to see tomorrow.

Well the web bots said.....


I'm sorry I couldn't resist!


I will take a look at that link to the discovery channel you posted as I watched it one time and have forgotten most of the information. I'm wondering what would be the prognosis for living in the NW outside of oregon/washington area? Lately I have been trying to be a bit more prepared for events but what can one really do for this one?

Best of luck!

reply to post by whoshotJR


I am pretty sure the NW would cease to exist if Yellowstone popped. I could be wrong though... I hope I am wrong though....

reply to post by Karlhungis


I played in the link that somebody else posted and it looks like many parts would not be having a good day. I'm near Vancouver Washington just outside of Portland Oregon and according to the map I wouldn't be hit by the ash. I'm betting its because we would get the winds from the ocean coming in and meeting the ash before it hit us.

I'm going to cross my fingers and hope I don't find out. I'm going to cross my toes that if I do find out that I'm correct in my hopes

reply to post by whoshotJR


You and I are neighbors (figuratively speaking) so I hope you are correct. Somehow I doubt we would come out unscathed though. I really hope I never find out what the real outcome would be if it goes off.

This is scary....If that Caldera went up it would be something approaching Apocalyptic. Im honestly suprised there arent more people posting about this. Forget Katrina, 9/11 etc . This would be very, very bad. I think i read somewhere that there would be other indicators, like for instance certain gases and incresed Geyser activity. Someone please correct me if im wrong

[edit on 12/28/2008 by Frank Black]