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Yellowstone volcano eruption warning: Huge earthquake swarm is now longest ever recorded

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The usually peaceful volcano has now experienced some 2,750 tremors since June 12 which could indicate that it is ready to burst back into life.

This is the second most active swarm of quakes since records began.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) has said that during September, there were 115 tremors – the biggest of these being a 2.3 quake.

A statement from the earthquake trackers read: “Including the events from the prior three monthly reports beginning on June 12, total swarm seismicity includes one earthquake of magnitude 4.4, 12 in the magnitude 3 range, and 185 earthquakes in the magnitude two range.”

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Is Yellowstone about to blow?

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The eruption would be catastrophic

USGS scientist Mike Poland says that the swarm is likely nothing to worry about, but it will help experts learn more about the powerful supervolcano.

He told Newsweek: “This is the sort of work that will happen in the months to come, as we gather up all of the available data and start crunching numbers.

“What we can say now is that through the end of September, the University of Utah has located 2,475 earthquakes in the swarm.

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There have been more than 2,700 earthquakes around Yellowstone

“This puts the 2017 swarm on par with that of 1985, which lasted three months and had over 3,000 located events.

“[This is] certainly a fascinating event and one that we hope to learn more about through some post-swarm analysis.”

The Yellowstone Caldera supervolcano last erupted 70,000 years ago but a spike in seismic activity around the national park has unsettled nerves.

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Yellowstone could wipe out America

If the Wyoming volcano were to erupt it would kill an estimated 87,000 people immediately and make two-thirds of the USA immediately uninhabitable.

The large spew of ash into the atmosphere would block out sunlight and directly affect life beneath it creating a “nuclear winter”.

The massive eruption could be a staggering 6,000 times as powerful as the one from Washington’s Mount St Helens in 1980 which killed 57 people and deposited ash in 11 different states and five Canadian provinces.

If the volcano explodes, a climate shift would ensue as the volcano would spew massive amounts of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, which can form a sulfur aerosol that reflects and absorbs sunlight.


Source:  http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/863154/Volcano-eruption-2017-yellowstone-caldera-national-park-erupt

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