Earthquake Swarm Occurs In Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park (ID,MT,WY)
Earthquake Swarm Occurs In Park; No Damage Reported

An on-going earthquake swarm is being reported approximately seven miles west of Ojo Caliente Hot Spring in Lower Geyser Basin. The University of Utah reports that a notable swarm of small earthquakes as large as magnitude 2.7 occurred throughout the evening of January 17th and morning of January 18th. The largest earthquakes in the swarm as of yesterday morning were a pair of shocks of magnitude 2.7 that occurred at 5:02 and 7:38 p.m. MST Sunday evening. There were a total of 206 located earthquakes in the swarm of magnitude 2.7 to 0.5 as of 9 a.m. Monday morning, and there was one report of one of the larger earthquakes being felt in Yellowstone. Swarms of this nature are relatively common in this part of the park. The swarm is considered normal for tectonic-related sources in the volcanic setting of Yellowstone and not an indication of premonitory volcanic or hydrothermal activity, but ongoing analyses will evaluate these different sources. Information on the earthquake can be viewed at the University of Utah seismograph stations: http://www.seis.utah.edu/ . Seismograph recordings from stations of the Yellowstone seismograph station can be viewed online at: http://www.quake.utah.edu/helicorder/heli/yellowstone/index.html .

Earthquake swarm on the northwest edge of Yellowstone Caldera continues.
PRESS RELEASE FROM YVO PARTNER UNIVERSITY OF UTAH SEISMOGRAPH STATIONS
Released: January 19, 2010 03:00 PM MST

The University of Utah Seismograph Stations reports an update of information on an ongoing earthquake swarm in Yellowstone National Park that began January 17, 2010 (1:00 PM MST). The swarm is located about 10 miles northwest of Old Faithful, WY and 9 miles southeast of West Yellowstone, MT. The largest earthquake in the swarm as of 3 PM, January 19, 2010, was a magnitude 3.7 event that occurred at 2:31 PM, MST, January 19, 2010. and there have been 469 located earthquakes in the swarm of magnitudes 0.5 to 3.7. This includes 5 events of magnitude larger than 3, with 34 events of magnitude 2 to 3, and 430 events of magnitude less than 2. There have been multiple personal reports of ground shaking from observations inside Yellowstone National Park and in neighboring communities in Montana and Idaho for some of the larger events. Earthquake swarms of this nature are relatively common in Yellowstone National Park.

At this time the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory does not consider the swarm to be unusual and the earthquakes are likely related to tectonic fault sources. Also there is no indication of premonitory volcanic or hydrothermal activity, but ongoing analyses will evaluate these different sources.

Information on the earthquake can be viewed at the University of Utah Seismograph Stations: http://www.seis.utah.edu/.

Seismograph recordings from stations of the Yellowstone seismograph station can be viewed online at: http://quake.utah.edu/helicorder/yell_webi.htm.

Anyone who has felt earthquakes in the swarm are encouraged to fill out a form on the USGS Community Felt reports web site: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/dyfi/.
This press release was prepared by the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory partners of the U.S. Geol. Survey, the University of Utah, and the National Park Service: http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/