×
GreekEnglish

×
  • Politics
  • Diaspora
  • World
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Cooking
Saturday
03
Oct 2026
weather symbol
Athens 18°C
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • World
  • Diaspora
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Mediterranean Cooking
  • Weather
Contact follow Protothema:
Powered by Cloudevo
> technology

The Yellowstone Supervolcano Has Just Seen 878 Earthquakes in Two Weeks

But don't freak out just yet

Newsroom July 7 11:32

Δείτε περισσότερα άρθρα μας στα αποτελέσματα αναζήτησης

Add Protothema.gr on Google

Yellowstone has had a turbulent June. In just two weeks, the supervolcano that lies underneath the national park was hit with 878 earthquakes.

The dense series of earthquakes, called an earthquake swarm, began on June 12. Within one week, the USGS had already recorded 464 earthquakes.

“This is the highest number of earthquakes at Yellowstone within a single week in the past five years,” reported the USGS in a statement released last week.

The majority of the earthquakes were no greater than a magnitude of 1, but the largest reached a magnitude of 4.4, which is the biggest earthquake experienced in Yellowstone since March 2014.

But, thankfully, we don’t need to freak out anytime soon. It is extremely unlikely that these swarms will set off the supervolcano. In fact, the USGS sets the probability of the supervolcano erupting in the coming year at 1 in 730,000, and has kept its volcano alert level at green.

“Swarms in Yellowstone are a common occurrence,” Jamie Farrell, a research professor at the University of Utah, which is part of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO), told Newsweek.

“On average, Yellowstone sees around 1,500-2,000 earthquakes per year. Of those, 40 to 50 percent occur as part of earthquake swarms.”

And while the most recent swarm is larger than average, Farrell says there isn’t any evidence that the activity is related to magma moving in the subsurface.

Geologists are constantly monitoring the Yellowstone supervolcano for unusual activity. If the volcano was about to blow, Farrell says they would start seeing increased seismicity, large changes in surface deformation, changes to the hydrothermal system and changes in gas output.

“Typically if we see just one of these things, it doesn’t necessarily mean there is an eruption coming. If we start to see changes in all these things, then a red flag may be raised,” said Farrell.

The Yellowstone supervolcano doesn’t blow very often. In the past two million years, it has only experienced three major eruptions.

But even if it did erupt, Jacob Lowenstern, a scientist in charge of the YVO, says it would be fairly inconsequential.

“If Yellowstone erupts, it’s most likely to be a lava flow, as occurred in nearly all the 80 eruptions since the last ‘supereruption’ 640,000 years ago,” he told Newsweek’s Hannah Osborne.

>Related articles

The Lindsay Clancy legacy: Mother in frenzy stabbed her two children 50 times in the US, one faces possible arm amputation

Marinakis: There was never any question of threatening the Greek government, nor would such a thing have been tolerated, he said regarding WSJ report

The 43 million-view video that made a US mother go viral: The truth behind the footage of her holding her child & food while her husband was eating (video)

“A lava flow would be a big deal at Yellowstone, but would have very little regional or continental effect.”

Regardless, Farrell and the rest of the team at the University of Utah assure us they are continuing to monitor the swarm. So there won’t be any nasty surprises sneaking up out of Yellowstone anytime soon.

Source

Ask me anything

Explore related questions

#earthquake#Supervolcano#University of Utah#usa#Utah#Yellowstone#Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO)
> More technology

Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news

See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr

> Latest Stories

Up to five chances to halve tax fines: How audit cases are closed by accepting the findings

October 3, 2026

Severe Weather in Crete: 23 people rescued in Ierapetra, flooding, and debris on the roads

October 3, 2026

Flydubai co-pilot accused of attack was previously removed from Oman Air role over extremist views

October 3, 2026

Murderer Christa Pike unconscious, intubated and on a ventilator

October 3, 2026

Ukraine uses its own FP-7 ballistic missile in combat for the first time

October 2, 2026

Greece approves €6.6bn of private investment set to create 21,000 jobs

October 2, 2026

Over 260,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine identified, with bodies left on the battlefield for at least five months

October 2, 2026

Greek Prime Minister signals higher heating allowance, with details due on 14 October

October 2, 2026
All News

> Greece

In reverence, the emotional deposition in Jerusalem, see photos & video

The Holy Temple of the Resurrection opened after many days due to the war between Israel and Iran

April 10, 2026

In the final stretch for the accreditation of joint master’s degrees: Aiming for their launch in the coming academic year

April 10, 2026

Schedule for Epitaph Procession today (10/4)

April 10, 2026

Perfect weather for Easter excursions, according to Tsatrafyllia’s forecast

April 10, 2026

Easter in Greece: The customs that continue in Greek tradition – From Nafpaktos to Corfu

April 10, 2026
Homepage
PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY COOKIES POLICY TERM OF USE
Powered by Cloudevo
Copyright © 2026 Πρώτο Θέμα