A SPATE of earthquakes near to the Yellowstone caldera in the last few days has sparked fears the potentially catastrophic volcano is about to blow.
Three earthquakes in the last seven days around the Yellowstone Caldera has triggered concern that the volcano could erupt.
A 1.6 magnitude quake five days ago was quickly followed by a tremor of the same magnitude on the same day.
Two days later, another 1.6 magnitude tremor struck the region, taking the total to 11 earthquakes in the last month.
Typically, when there are tremors around a volcano, it is a sign the magma is recharging and could lead to an explosion.
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Fears Yellowstone volcano ‘IS going to blow’ as earthquakes strike near crater
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Earthquakes have rocked the Yellowstone Caldera Residents near to the volcano have taken to social media to voice their concerns that the volcano could blow.
Catalina Tucker said: “All I can say is if I lived anywhere near this monster I would definitely be moving somewhere else. This volcano is so dangerous and it IS gonna blow.”
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An eruption at Yellowstone could wipe out America.
Jamie Farrell at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City has said: “Earthquake swarms are fairly common in Yellowstone.
“There is no indication that this swarm is related to magma moving through the shallow crust.”
If the volcano were to erupt it would kill an estimated 87,000 people immediately and make two-thirds of the USA immediately uninhabitable.
The large spew of ash into the atmosphere would block out sunlight and directly affect life beneath it creating a “nuclear winter”.
The massive eruption could be a staggering 6,000 times as powerful as the one from Washington’s Mount St Helens in 1980 which killed 57 people and deposited ash in 11 different states and five Canadian provinces.
If the volcano explodes, a climate shift would ensue as the volcano would spew massive amounts of sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere, which can form a sulphur aerosol that reflects and absorbs sunlight.
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