was about 45 miles north of that feature, kind of closer to Norris geyser basin/Gibbon Meadow and east of those.

Yeah, this one gives me pause, haven't had one quite this large in the park for many years... but since the sun is in a continuous flare eruption cycle, this could become the norm for a while. I usually don't notice the quakes but this one woke me.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/risk-of-supervolcano-eruption-big-enough-to-affect-the-world-far-greater-than-thought-say-scientists-9040073.html

A supervolcano under Yellowstone Park in Wyoming last erupted about 600,000 years ago, sending more than 1,000 cubic kilometres of ash and lava into the atmosphere – about 100 times more than the Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines in 1982, which caused a noticeable period of global cooling.

I'm sure I'll be safe in Pennsylvania, right?

in sunny Floriduh.

That Yellowstone caldera is a frightening possibility, given that it could instantly wipe out a large swath of the living things in the US West.

OTOH, when you say "When this super volcano goes, it's game over for the biosphere"... I have to wonder. Given that we may already be over the cliff of global warming (think: methane fields), a caldera explosion might be the only thing big enough to reverse those effects. Of course, in that case, the biosphere's long term gain would be our loss, at least for the short term.

Just thinking out loud here, not claiming it would really save the biosphere. When we are dealing with forces this big, all bets are off.

the size and intensity of this one going off full scream ahead would be enough disruption to the atmosphere and everything that all creatures on the planet, those with lungs in particular, will be breathing glass ash within a week. The magma pool is so vast that it rivals the Mt Mazama event. The affects will be global. Needless to say, when it does go, it's not like it won't be noticed by most everyone.

Anecdotally; Think of Mt. St Helens, when it went off in what 1981 (?) I was in Madison, WI... all the news was about the ash overwhelming eastern WA and northern ID... there was a noticeable layer of glassy dust on my Volvo 24 hrs after the eruption. So if you figure that Yellowstone could be at least 1K times worse than St Helens, I suspect the whole planet will be having significant problems. Some say it will be like a nuclear winter, not any better than global warming extremes when you think about it. Folks around these parts figure that it would be best to just get in your rig and head into the park and get it over with rather than try to outrun something that is so vast that you wouldn't get far anyway... if you live long enough to survive the early quakes that is.

It is what it is.

Also, there was another quake, 3.3m, a little after noon local time. The dog was having a problem with it, she was really upset with this morning's quake. Wonder if there will be more in the next day or so.


ETA some scale (visuals)...

Very informative.

Well it's not under our control anyway, unlike all the things we could be doing to reverse the human-caused contributions to global warming. As I like to say,

Ain't no use worrying:

- If you can do something about it, then do something -- ain't no use worrying
- If you can't do anything about it -- ain't no use worrying