WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Yellowstone National Park is fighting viral rumors of an impending, cataclysmic eruption of a mega volcano slumbering at the Western preserve known for its geothermal features.
Volcanologists said reams of geological data have given them a deep understanding of the Yellowstone Caldera ― and all signs point to calm.
Over the past several weeks, the Internet has been abuzz with speculation over worrying signs suggesting an explosive awakening for the so-called supervolcano, whose last catastrophic eruption was 640,000 years ago.
That eruption covered a good portion of North America in ash several centimeters thick and had a long-lasting impact on the Earth’s climate.
A video showing a herd of bison fleeing the iconic Wyoming park went viral.
And several days later, a 4.8-magnitude earthquake, the strongest in three decades, fed the rumor mill still further.
But Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash said there was nothing out of the ordinary in the animals’ behavior.
“We do have bison, elk and other animals that have moved out of the park recently,” he said.
“They tend to migrate at this time ... to lower elevations, where they think they can get food, and then they come back.”
As for the quake: “It was the strongest in 30 years, but it was not that strong,” said Peter Cervelli, a volcano expert at the U.S. Geological Survey.
And such jolts are not exactly rare, with an estimated 1,000 to 3,000 quakes a year at the park.
Like many similar volcanoes in the world, Yellowstone’s has a way of breathing, the magma trapped underneath lifting or subsiding in phases.
And because the Earth’s crust is just 6 to 10 kilometers thick at Yellowstone, compared to an average of 30 kilometers, any pressure exerted by the magma is felt strongly.
“Recently, over the last six months, we are in an episode of uplift,” Cervelli said.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
