The Yellowstone volcano sits in between the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, inside the Yellowstone National Park in the US. The caldera is labelled a supervolcano due to its potential to create devastation on a global scale. It last had a supereruption some 630,000 years ago, but there has been a great deal of smaller activity since then.
Volcanoes typically erupt when molten rock, also known as magma, rises to the surface following the Earth’s mantle melting.
This usually happens when the tectonic plates are pulling apart or where one plate is pushed down under another.
However, supereruptions have been known to happen following large regional earthquakes as they trigger unrest at the nearby volcano.
Jacob Lowenstein, a leading scientist in charge of monitoring Yellowstone revealed during a lecture at Menlo Park, California, how this has happen before and threatens to happen again should the earthquake measure in at more than six on the magnitude scale.
Yellowstone volcano could erupt if an earthquake strikes (Image: GETTY/USGS)
Jacob Lowenstein spoke at a lecture (Image: USGS)
Occasionally there is a big one, and there might be one in the Yellowstone area every 100 to 300 or 400 years
He said in 2014: “A lot of earthquakes have occurred at Yellowstone over the past 25 years – just a representative sampling.
“You’ll see there’s a lot of earthquakes out here near Hebgen Lake.
“That’s probably because it’s near the location of the 7.5 magnitude earthquake that occurred in 1959.
“Occasionally there is a big one, and there might be one in the Yellowstone area every 100 to 300 or 400 years.”
Dr Lowenstein went on to reveal how earthquake activity must be monitored due to the threat it poses.
Yellowstone volcano last erupted 630,000 years ago (Image: GETTY)
Mr Lowenstein warned about the affects of earthquakes (Image: USGS)
He added: “The last big one was in 1959 and caused a big landslide, killing around 20 people.
“This is a geologic hazard that’s again much more present in the area than a volcanic eruption.
“People living in the area should be familiar with it.”
It is not the first warning the scientist has given, though.
He previously warned of a “pressure cooker” hazard that could prove catastrophic, referring to hydrothermal explosions.
These occur when superheated water trapped below the surface converts rapidly from liquid to steam.
Boiling water, steam, mud, and rock fragments called breccia are ejected over an area of a few metres up to several kilometres in diameter.
Dr Lowenstein said: “There were a lot of these events within the past 15,000 years at Yellowstone.
“The largest of them form Mary Bay within Yellowstone Lake and it’s two miles across.
“So if you think about the way geothermal systems are established, the boiling temperature of water at the surface is 100C.
“At Yellowstone, you’re at a higher elevation and it’s about 92C, but as you go down the pressure increases and so does the boiling temperature – like a pressure cooker.
An earthquake could spark a chain reaction at the park (Image: GETTY)
Volcanoes typically erupt when molten rock, also known as magma, rises to the surface (Image: GETTY)
“So if that system depressurised, you’ll get water that’s way above its boiling point and it will catastrophically explode into steam – breaking rocks along the way and forming these very interesting landforms.”
He also revealed how the last explosion of this magnitude happened over 3,000 years ago it may be overdue a volcanic eruption too.
He said during the same lecture: “Since the last caldera-forming eruption (630,000 years ago), there have been lava flows and in some cases, very big lava flows beneath the topography.”
Addressing a model of the landscape, he added: “This is one of the largest ones – it’s called the Pitchstone Plateau – and it’s about the size of Washington DC.
“It’s anywhere from about 50 to 400 feet in thickness and it’s 70,000 years old.
“So this is actually the last volcanic eruption at Yellowstone.”
A plateau is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain, that is raised significantly above the surrounding area, often left behind from an eruption.
The specialist detailed that if history repeats itself it would be a problem on a local scale.
He added: “Since that time, there has been no volcanism at Yellowstone.
“So all of these lava flows are what has been going on for the last 30 or 40 big eruptions at Yellowstone.
Yellowstone volcano is located in Yellowstone National Park (Image: GETTY)
“If something like this happened today it would be a big deal.
“It would not have a lot of explosive activity and it would not be a national-scale emergency.
“It would be very much a local event, but it would still be very spectacular.
“These events normally occur every 10,000 years and appear in groupings.
“But the last one was 70,000 years ago.”
