Yellowstone is one of two places on earth (if I remember that correctly, now... LOL) that has magma as close to the surface of the earth as it is (in these two places). So, in Yellowstone, that magma is about as close as it comes to the surface.
It’s always been a “hotspot” so that’s nothing new. And it’s the site of a super explosion from years past (out of our historical records, at least). The ash from that super explosion from Yellowstone was deposited as far away as Texas, in a layer so deep that they still use it in Texas for road material (dig it up and use it for road material... LOL...).
When I was there in years past, they had, on the average about (at least) 1,000 earthquakes a year, mostly small ones, but a significant number that would knock you down to the ground if you were standing. And while I was there, I did encounter the earthquakes, too.
In addition, in years past, the geologists have been monitoring an “uprise” in some of the land around Yellowstone, indicating a filling of a certain part of the magma chamber, below the surface of the earth. So, that’s been going on for a very long time.
I mean, it’s not like our earth has *ever* been “quiet” in all these years, in the millennia into the past. It continually quakes and erupts and blows up, all over the place and always has.
Remember Krakatoa? And that’s not the only one...
The best-known eruption of Krakatoa culminated in a series of massive explosions on August 26–27, 1883, which was among the most violent volcanic events in modern and recorded history.
With a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 6,[2] the eruption was equivalent to 200 megatons (MT) of TNT—about 13,000 times the nuclear yield of the Little Boy bomb (13 to 16 kT) that devastated Hiroshima, Japan during World War II and four times the yield of the Tsar Bomba (50 MT), the largest nuclear device ever detonated.
The 1883 eruption ejected approximately 21 cubic kilometres (5.0 cu mi) of rock, ash, and pumice.[3]
The cataclysmic explosion was distinctly heard as far away as Perth in Western Australia, about 1,930 miles (3,110 km) away, and the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius, about 3,000 miles (5,000 km) away.
Near Krakatoa, according to official records, 165 villages and towns were destroyed and 132 seriously damaged, at least 36,417 (official toll) people died, and many thousands were injured by the eruption, mostly from the tsunamis that followed the explosion. The eruption destroyed two-thirds of the island of Krakatoa.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa
We could produce a very long list of these kinds of eruptions. How about the *continuous* volcanic eruption in Hawaii, which has been going on since 1983 — that is..., erupting continuously for about 26 years — non-stop.
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The current Kilauea eruption began on January 3, 1983, along the East rift zone from the Pu-u O-o vent and also the Kupaianaha vent, and continues to produce lava flows that travel 11 to 12 km from these vents through tube networks that discharge into the sea to two sites, Wahaula and Kamokuna.[4] This eruption has covered over 117 km² of land on the southern flank of Kilauea and has built out into the sea 2 km² (230 hectares) of new land. Since 1983 more than 2.7 km³ of lava has been erupted, making the 1983-to-present eruption the largest historically known for Kilauea. 189 structures have been destroyed. In the early to middle 1980s Kilauea was known as “The Drive-By Volcano” because anyone could ride by and see the lava fountains — some as much as 1,000 feet (300 m) in the air — from their car.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilauea_Volcano
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There’s a lot of stuff that has been “going on” out there for quite a long time in human history...
For all the trips I've taken to Yellowstone, I've never felt an earthquake while walking around in the park. I have been nearly at the epicenter of a 5.5 magnitude quake in the Federal Way, WA area in 1964. It very nearly knocked over all the furniture in the living room. The Landers quake dumped all my wife's shoe boxes off their perch in the closet and onto my sleeping hide. What a wake up.
...and as a Star Traveler, you would know! ;-)