What’s the worst possible news immaginable in terms of global doom? Comet on the way? – Could be shot down by Bruce Willis to a soft rock soundtrack. Pandemic? Dustin Hoffman and a monkey will save the day. Massive planet damming volcano starts rumbling… Anyone? No…? Uh oh. (i’ll give you Micael Riley if you’re feeling nitpicky)
Anyway. For those not in the know, below Yellowstone National Park sits a massive ( 55 kilometers (34 mi) by 72 kilometers (45 mi)) volcano. Just sitting there. If it was to erupt Secrets Of Survival tell us that…
First, anyone within about 100 kilometers of such an explosion would simply be killed by the explosion itself (remember that the eruption 640,000 years ago emitted 240 cubic miles of material) or the volcanic ash quite quickly.
Next, such an explosion would leave the majority of the North American continent below ash. The ash would be more significant closer to the explosion, but dangerous amounts would still reach three quarters of the continent.
Not good. And currently there is a swarm of earthquakes occuring right above the Caldera.
The largest of the earthquakes was a magnitude 3.9 at 10:15 pm MST on Dec. 27, a day after the swarm began. The sequence has included nine events of magnitude 3 to 3.9 and approximately 24 of magnitude 2 to 3 at the time of this release. A total of more than 250 events large enough to be located have occurred in this swarm.
Scientists wonder if the shaking might presage a larger event. This month’s swarm is the most intense in this area for some years, scientists said. It is centered on the east side of the Yellowstone caldera, a giant basin created in a colossal eruption some 620,000 years ago.
Thats a sense of impending doom you’re feeling right now…
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[...] Swarm at the Yellowstone Supervolcano This December 2008 earthquake sequence is the most intense in this area for some years and is centered on the east side of the Yellowstone [...]