science

Ring of Fire WARNING: Are Alaska earthquakes linked to Yellowstone volcano? Will it ERUPT?


Earthquakes in Alaska, located in the infamous Ring of Fire, are a frequeent occurence as the region lies on a major fault line, the Denali Fault. On January 9, a 4.0-magnitude tremor struck the northern US state and dozens of smaller quakes have occurred since. In the first nine days of 2019 alone, Alaska has been shaken by 81 earthquakes of a magnitude 2.5 or higher according to the United States Geological Survey.

The moving tectonic plates which makes up the Ring of Fire makes a connection between Alaska and Yellowstone national park.

And the Alaskan earthquake could potentially send dangerous energy to the Yellowstone volcano, which is one of the most dynamic sites on earth.

Yellowstone Volcano Observatory scientists confirmed both local and more remote earthquakes in the USA have caused increased activity at Yellowstone.

The scientists said: “Distant earthquakes have triggered clusters of small earthquakes at Yellowstone (like those caused by the 2002 Denali, Alaska, earthquake), and variations in geyser eruption patterns are a common consequence of local and distant strong earthquakes.

“Seismic shaking can cause hydrothermal plumbing systems to collapse, changing how Yellowstone thermal features behave and even resulting in small steam explosions.”

Earthquakes occurs when energy is released from the interior of the Earth, where huge amount of heat is stored.

The heat drives the plates to move against one another and produce friction, and causes energy to build up.

The energy released is what triggers an earthquake.

Seismologists cannot predict when or where earthquakes will strike, or how large they will be.

At least 450 active and dormant volcanoes lie the Ring of Fire, with the supervolcano in Yellowstone being the most dangerous if it were to erupt.

The volcano has only erupted three times in history, with the last one being 640,000 years ago.

Although this is a long time ago, scientist still consider it worth monitoring constantly.

Will Yellowstone volcano erupt?

Three eruptions at Yellowstone appear to have occurred on a 600,000 to 700,000 year cycle starting 2.1 million years ago and some scientists suggest this means Yellowstone is overdue for an eruption.

The Yellowstone supervolcano is thousands of times more powerful than a regular volcano and could result in changes felt across the globe.

In March 2018, the Yellowstone based Geyser Steamboat began a series of eruptions for the first time since 2014 – further sparking fears the Yellowstone volcano may erupt soon.

But the USGS noted the hydrothermal changes in the geysers are not linked to any increased volcanic activity in Yellowstone’s super volcano.

So despite fears an eruption could be imminent, there’s no need to worry at the moment.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the odds of Yellowstone erupting are 0.00014 percent — lower than the odds of getting hit by a civilisation-destroying asteroid.

In fact, some say the supervolcano may never erupt again.



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