Earthquake felt in Yellowstone National Park

Associated Press ^ | 08-21-03

[Brian S]

Also see: Yellowstone Lake Hints at Buildup to Hugh Blast

Thermal activity closes part of Yellowstone

[theDentist]

Was it good for you?

[mhking]

boom?

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[steve50]

Oh boy. Nice little cauldera(sp?) under that place that could wipe out about 1/2 the U.S. of A.

[najida]

I was thinkin' the same thing.

Need to call my friends in Nebraska and ask if they wanna move.

[ChefKeith]

"Hold Muh Beer and watch this"

Smokey (or Yogi) the bear is gonna belch!

[Centurion2000]

Hope they baby calms down for a while. That thing would be the end of the United States.

[bedolido]

This is scary! Yellowstone is one of the world's biggest Caldera (monster volcanic area). Very dangerous if the continue and increase.

Lava Creek Tuff The major eruption at Yellowstone, 640,000 years ago, saw >300 cubic kilometers of volcanic ash erupted in just a few days or years. Much of this ash erupted as ash flows, 'slurries' of volcanic ash fragments in superheated steam and gas, which solidified to form the to form the Lava Creek ash-flow tuff. The Lava Creek looks just like the Huckleberry Ridge tuff. Outcrops of the Lava Creek are in the strong color overlays, and its inferred original distribution in the pale overlay. Loose ash from this eruption must lain thick on the whole area, as it spread over all of eastern North America (at least). From Plate 1 of Christiansen (2001).

Skylab image of the Yellowstone Park and surroundings looking north-east ('+' signs are from the camera). Yellowstone Lake is in the center, the Beartooth mountains are left of center, and the Bighorn mountains are the arc to the upper left. Bozeman is among the mountains to the lower left.

[steve50]

I'd advise north and west. Think when she blows they expect it to take out most of the midwest, at least as far as the Mississippi.

[TBall]

I've seen it posted that prior Yellowstone eruptions have occurred near the time when Mars was closest to the Earth. Last night I went out and looked at Mars for the first time in a couple of weeks and was amazed at just how much bigger it appeared. While its concerning, I don't think that I'm going to run out and max the credit card.

[curmudgeonII]

Would not comparatively small earthquakes lessen the likelihood of a mega-blast? [A series of small earthquakes being better than a single major shake.]

[tracer]

Neat photos. Links? Thanks...

[Question_Assumptions]

Hope they baby calms down for a while. That thing would be the end of the United States.

It would be awful and life would be rough for many years (not just in the United States) but I have faith in Americans that the United States would endure it.

[bedolido]

these pictures came from http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/EPO/yellowstone2002/workshop/y_caldera1/

[oceanperch]

To much Metamucil? (tv ad that claims old faithful is reg. due to use of the product)

[ChemistCat]

Not the end of humanity, but the death of a huge part of it as our population and food production would be imbalanced for a LONG LONG TIME.

Don't know if y'all know this but my church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) teaches that everyone should have a year's food storage, and as much water and fuel as you can store. It used to teach that everyone should have two, but most people can't do that. Anyway, there has been a quiet step-up in the intensity of the message to do this. That was not the case for Y2K. What does it mean? Who knows. Maybe just some economic hard times ahead. Aren't there always? For generations we've believed that we are in the last days. Well, it's everybody's last days, one way or another. I have been into survival preparedness for much longer than I've been LDS.

LDS canneries can be found in most stakes, and there are people there who will be glad to help you get started in food storage--how much to store, and in what forms. . On a space-available basis, we'll generally let other groups come in and use our canning facilities. You can bulk order foodstuff from many places on the web. My favorite is http://www.waltonfeed.com. I have three hundred bucks worth of dried cheese, sweet potatoes, shredded potatoes, cream of wheat, hard white wheat, and other vegetables coming by UPS. 200 pounds, cost me just over $50 to ship. Cuts my grocery cost SUBSTANTIALLY to buy in bulk this way. If you order more, the shipping cost per pound actually drops. The dried cheddar is outstanding stuff, by the way. Much cheaper and healthier than the Kraft macaroni and cheese mix, which is mostly whey and other quasi-food, and very little cheese. If you've paid $4 for a bitty box of Cream of Wheat you'll appreciate getting a 50 pound bag of it for $12.00 plus about the same in shipping.

Food storage won't do much good if you're right in the disaster swath of something like this, but if you and your food supply get a good covering of ash, you would be glad to have it. Be prepared to defend it...and to share it. It is probably far easier to store a little extra now than to have to turn away hungry children later.

For awhile my kids slept on beds that were supported by boxes of #10 cans. We now have a designated area for storage, and they're on real bunk beds.

[oceanperch]

Get out your telescopes, binoculars and your eyes and look up. Happy watching.
Mars
Never again in your (or my) lifetime will the Red Planet be so spectacular.
This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars, an encounter that will
culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way
Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only
be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years but it may be as long as 60,000 years. The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification, Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.
Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August Mars will rise in the east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. But by the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m. That's pretty convenient when it comes to seeing something that no human has seen in recorded history.
So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month. Share this! No one alive today will ever see this again.

[StriperSniper]

That would be true for lessening stress on a fault, not nessasarily for moving magma.

Can any geologists expand on that?

[Bon mots]

The BBC had a very good radio program called "A Supervolcano Called Yellowstone". Fascinating, yet scarey stuff. I have a copy of it on my i-Pod.

[oceanperch]

We keep a month worth of supplies/meds
for the son.

Most of our venders are out of state.

Nine cases of quart cans of g tube feeding formula, medical supplies and prescription drugs.

I keep canned goods and water.

Because ya just never know. In our situation it is vital to be self sufficient.