Yellowstone is amongst the largest known volcanoes in the world and the biggest volcanic system in North America. It is found above an intraplate hotspot that has been sustaining the magma chamber beneath Yellowstone for about 2 million years.

If the supervolcano beneath the Yellowstone National Park ever erupted again, it would be another massive eruption that could spew ash for thousands of miles across the United States. It would damage buildings, shut down power plants and smother crops. It’s even apparent that Yellowstone might never retain an eruption that large.   

If Yellowstone erupted, we would see much more earth lifted with bigger earthquakes. Also, the hundreds of tremors that are recorded across the park would become thousands. This definitely gives us an idea of what it would look like if Yellowstone erupted. The volcanic eruption would be horrific. 

However, it doesn’t mean that you need to freak out. The chances of this happening are extremely low. The Yellowstone supervolcano is thousands of times stronger than regular volcanoes. 

It has only had three truly massive eruptions in history. One happened 2.1 million years ago, another 1.3 million years ago, and the most recent 664,000 years ago. There is no indication that it would erupt anytime soon. It might never erupt! Yes, you’ve heard it right. 

What is the Yellowstone Supervolcano?

Hiding beneath Yellowstone National Park is a pool of hot magma that is five miles deep. It is fed by an enormous plume of molten rock welling up from hundreds of miles below. 

This heat is accountable for many of the park’s hot springs and popular geysers. As magma rises into the chamber and cools, the ground above occasionally rises and falls.

Yellowstone Eruption – Ash, Everywhere! 

Scientists and researchers have found that the volcano could devastate states like Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and Montana in three feet of harmful volcanic ash. A mix of splintered rock, glass and ash would blanket these regions. 

This huge quantity of ash could assassinate animals, plants, crush roofs, and short all kinds of electrical equipment.

The Majority of Yellowstone Eruptions Are Small

On rare occasions that magma chamber has erupted earlier, the majority of those eruptions in Yellowstone have been minor lava flows. The blast occurred at Pitchstone Plateau about 70,000 years ago.

But the explanation why Yellowstone gets so much awareness is the remote possibility of sorrowful “super-eruptions.” A super-eruption is anything that scales magnitude 8 or more on the Volcano Explosivity Index. In this at least 1,000 cubic kilometers of volcanic material gets ejected. That is more than enough to bury Texas five feet deep.

The super-eruptions are thousands of times stronger than even the massive eruptions we’re used to.

A Yellowstone Super-eruption Can Send Ash Many Thousands of Miles

If such a thing is supposed to happen, the warning signs will be bigger. The entire Yellowstone Park would be in intense seismic activity. It could take months of earthquakes and rumors to break up the rocks that are above the magma.

And what if we get to see a super-eruption? It will be 1,000 times more powerful than a regular volcanic eruption. The main harm would come from volcanic ash. A super-eruption could perhaps bury the northern Rockies in three feet of ash. 

Volcanoes do not act in predictable ways. Their eruptions are not according to the predictable schedules. 

Although a catastrophic eruption at Yellowstone is practical, scientists are not certain that one will ever happen. The rhyolite magma chamber below Yellowstone is just 5-15% molten. The rest is still hot but solidified. Therefore, it is unclear if there is even sufficient magma below the caldera to raise an eruption.

If Yellowstone erupts again, it might not be a large eruption.

A Supervolcano – Yellowstone Caldera

Volcanism at Yellowstone is somewhat recent, with calderas that were built during massive eruptions that rest over a hotspot under the Yellowstone Plateau.

The Yellowstone Caldera is a volcanic caldera and supervolcano in Yellowstone National Park in the Western United States. It is also called the Yellowstone Supervolcano. The caldera and maximum of the park are situated in the northwest corner of Wyoming.

The major super-eruptions happened 2.1 million, 1.3 million, and almost 630,000 years ago. These eruptions formed the Island Park Caldera, the Henry’s Fork Caldera, and Yellowstone calderas, respectively.

The Island Park Caldera supereruption was 2.1 million years ago, which generated the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff. It was the biggest and generated 2,500 times as much ash as the Mount St. Helens eruption of 1980.

When Will The Next Large Earthquake Occur In Yellowstone?

Quakes cannot be predicted. Yet, modern surveillance performed with seismographs and Global Positioning System (GPS) instruments that estimate slow ground movements assist scientists to realize the state of stress in the Earth’s crust. Those stresses could trigger earthquakes.

Why are Many Earthquakes at Yellowstone?

Almost all quakes at Yellowstone are brittle-failure. These are caused when rocks crack because of crustal stresses. 

When Did Yellowstone Erupt For The Last Time?

The most current volcanic activity at Yellowstone consisted of rhyolitic lava flows that exploded approximately 70,000 years ago. The biggest of these flows created the Pitchstone Plateau in southwestern Yellowstone National Park. 

Which Countries Would Get Affected The Most If Yellowstone Erupts Again?

The Volcanic ash fallout will be enormous. It will be of more than 39.4 inches that would blanket Yellowstone’s vicinity in the states of Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. The harshness of the blast lessens further out from Yellowstone National Park but expands into Mexico, Canada, and the East Coast.

What Are the Chances of Yellowstone Erupting?

According to Yellowstone’s history, the yearly probability of another caldera-forming eruption can be approximated as 0.00014% or 1 in 730,000.

Can We Survive The Yellowstone Supervolcanic Eruption?

Yellowstone is a supervolcano. A supervolcano is a large volcano having the power to create an eruption with major impacts on the global climate. The probability of a supervolcano eruption is horrible. When these supervolcanoes erupt, they spread ash, lava and smoke from the surface and into surrounding towns, resulting in severe pollution.

A large eruption at Yellowstone will not end the human race. However, the consequence of such an eruption clearly wouldn’t be nice, but we won’t get extinct.