The most recent quake reports from Yellowstone National Park portray a slumbering giant, stirring within a landscape of bison-shuffed hotsprings and spouting geysers, still in bed but restless – at least according to an analysis of recent data collected through 1 August 2024 by the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) of a ‘volcanic system currently displaying no connection to unrest’.

Last July, 109 earthquakes occurred within the park’s borders which, not surprisingly, places the Yellowstone caldera right in the middle of the bell curve for seismicity in this range. A minor swarm of 20 earthquakes that occurred beneath Yellowstone Lake in late July was a barely perceptible reminder of volcanic activity in the subterranean realm, but scientists insist it’s business as usual.

At the same time, ground deformation across the park measured by GPS stations installed throughout the caldera shows how it is sinking just as it did in the years before 2015. Such shifts might be expected in geothermal volcanic systems such as Yellowstone, where everything that happens on one extremity has an effect somewhere else in the background. Nothing portends a sudden release of pent-up pressure. Rather, it confirms the slow yet relentless reshaping that, historically, has characterised the growth and evolution of this geological wonder.

The caldera produces the world’s tallest and most explosive bursts of water and steam; its ‘Steamboat Geyser’ goes off only a few times each year and not at all between eruptions. In the past several months there’s been an even longer than usual gap between bursts. Does it mean there is something going on with the volcano? Not likely.

A small group of dedicated scientists and researchers at the YVO continue to watch Yellowstone like a hawk, analysing seismicity, ground deformation and other data to give a clearer picture of the workings of the park.

Thanks to decades of hard work by the YVO and other science agencies, we can fully enjoy the splendour of Yellowstone while acknowledging its volatility. In the meantime, while we wait for the park to awaken again, we can take solace in the fact that it’s well monitored and that we’d have plenty of warning of major change.

©️ The Rocky Mountain Dispatch LLC. 2024