Yellowstone volcano and the surrounding areas witnessed a period of seismic activity in January 2020. Seismic trackers in the Yellowstone National Park region recorded a total of 41 earthquakes last month.
The USGS update came amid widespread online claims the US supervolcano is overdue another major eruption.
Scores of concerned social media users took to Twitter to share their unease about Yellowstone.
Manuel Miranda said: “The only end of the world catastrophe I’m scared of is the eruption of the super volcano in Yellowstone park.”
Another Twitter user said: “There are a few events that I know the world is overdue. We’re overdue a recession.
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“The supervolcano under Yellowstone National Park is overdue an eruption. The San Andreas faultline is overdue an earthquake.
“We’re overdue an influenza pandemic. I hope #coronavirus isn’t it.”
Another person said: “14/20 The USA can guard against attack by others but cannot against nature – the volcano in Yellowstone park is due for eruption, and the longer it goes without one the more powerful it will be when it does.”
And Twitter user Delreo Johnson said: “World/America something has been brought to my attention, and that’s the volcano eruption will increase in intensity.
“But the volcano I want y’all to be aware of is Yellowstone, and the 20 active volcano in California, the Garlock fault will all of this, not San Andreas!”
But is there any reason for people to genuinely believe Yellowstone volcano is overdue an eruption?
The volcano I want y’all to be aware of is Yellowstone
Delreo Johnson on Twitter
According to the USGS, Yellowstone was struck by 41 weak earthquakes in January.
The largest of the events was a “micro earthquake” that peaked at magnitude 2.8, just 12 miles north of Pahaska Tepee, Wyoming, on January 10.
The USGS said Yellowstone earthquake activity remains at background levels.
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At the same time, the world-famous Steamboat Geyser erupted twice last month, on January 9 and January 23 respectively.
The current volcano alert level for Yellowstone is NORMAL and there are no indications of an eruption brewing deep underground.
According to the USGS, there is also no evidence to support the idea Yellowstone is overdue another blast, based on past eruptions alone.
Yellowstone’s last major eruptions took place some 640,000 years, 1.3 million and 2.1 million years ago.
The USGS said: “First of all, one cannot present recurrence intervals based on only two values. It would be statistically meaningless.
“But for those who insist… let’s do the arithmetic. The three eruptions occurred 2.1 million, 1.3 million and 0.64 million years ago.
“The two intervals are thus 0.8 and 0.66 million years, averaging to a 0.73 million-year interval.
“Again, the last eruption was 0.64 million years ago, implying that we are still about 90,000 years away from the time when we might consider calling Yellowstone overdue for another caldera-forming eruption.
“Nevertheless, we cannot discount the possibility of another such eruption occurring sometime in the future, given Yellowstone’s volcanic history and the continued presence of magma beneath the Yellowstone caldera.”
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