BEN FERRAIUOLO
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Yellowstone Caldera, WY

May 4, 2019 - Minor Rapid-Fire Swarm near West Thumb Lake

5/4/2019

2 Comments

 
Picture
Please click the title of this post or "read more" to view the analysis page for the minor 6-minute rapid-fire swarm that broke out near West Thumb Lake at Yellowstone on May 4, 2019 (seismic audio included)...

Picture
First off, if you wish to see the USGS earthquake map for this swarm, please CLICK HERE. None have been reported yet, as of 8:33pm PST May 4, 2019 (3:33UTC May 5, 2019), but they may be reported soon so continue to check the map if you wish. Also, if you wish to see the station locations at Yellowstone, please CLICK HERE.

UPDATE AS OF MAY 9, 2019 19:00UTC: Two earthquakes in this swarm have been reported. I was so close to the correct epicenter, though I was off a bit. That shows I am getting closer and closer to actually being able to locate events on my own!

On May 4, 2019 at 7:25am Mountain Time, a minor rapid fire swarm broke out near West Thumb Lake. No earthquakes have been reported as of yet, however I analyzed some of the P and S wave arrivals and the circle on the map above shows the likely epicenter of this 6-minute swarm. The largest event was likely no larger than M1.8 or so, likely occurring around 3km to 5km in depth. No more than 21 events occurred during this swarm. Doesn't seem like much, especially since the magnitudes are low, but 21 events in 6 minutes is pretty fast! It is hard to tell exactly how many events occurred, especially since many of the events slowly build (are emergent) and occur so fast that, at times, it blends to create a tremor-like event.

Here is the swarm via 5 spectrogram plots. If you wish to hear the seismic audio now, skip to the end of the post.
Picture
And here are the P and S wave arrivals for the largest event of the swarm (via WAVES):
Picture
May 4, 2019 swarm
 
Start of swarm: 13:25UTC
End of swarm: 13:31UTC (a few stragglers occurred a few minutes later; those are not counted here)
Total earthquake count (includes even the tiniest, unreported events): ~21 events
Reported count: 2
Largest reported earthquake of this swarm: M2.4 at 3.1km depth
Largest amplitude: ~14,100 (YDD-HHZ), ~11,900 (YLT-EHZ)
Severity: Minor

Below I will show helicorder plots from 6 select stations closest to this swarm. I will then show the seismogram, spectrogram, and spectra plots detailing almost all of this swarm. If you wish to hear the seismic audio of this swarm now, simply skip to the end of this post.

Seismic Audio

Here is the seismic audio of the swarm. Headphones are highly suggested, but be wary of the volume just in case. To view this video on my YouTube channel instead, please CLICK HERE.
2 Comments
Matthew Martin
5/5/2019 10:50:29 am

Hi is the caladara staring to collapse?

Reply
Ben
5/6/2019 11:54:54 am

Well, in a way, subsidence (deflation) is the slow, long, and drawn out collapse of any area of the ground. It isn't fully considered a real collapse, but whenever an area subsides (like Yellowstone is doing right now) it does sink. But on the order of a few millimeters per month, at least so far. Might cause some swarms here and there but I do believe uplift will begin again soon, as is the norm for Yellowstone. God bless!

-BF

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    About

    Please click a post title to view the data pertaining to that event!

    This is the seismic events page for Yellowstone National Park and Caldera, which resides in northwest Wyoming. Yellowstone is an absolutely massive caldera super-volcano. It sits at a shocking perimeter of 34 by 45 miles (55 by 72km) and that is only the caldera boundary! A caldera is created when land immediately erupts and collapses, while the magma chamber almost completely empties, creating a crater imprint called a caldera. Some calderas around the world are small in comparison (i.e. Kilauea) to other calderas formed by super-volcanic eruptions (i.e. Yellowstone in Wyoming or Long Valley in California).  Yellowstone is theorized to contain a magma chamber and a much deeper, much larger magma reservoir just beneath the chamber. This two-chamber system is also theorized to be caused by a "magma plume". Magma plumes are thought to draw their eruptive ability from deep within our planet, possibly from our lower mantle. That is why volcanoes caused by magma plumes are much more dangerous and far more unpredictable than their counterparts that are caused by normal tectonic forces. Yes, many volcanoes are caused by tectonic forces as one plate attempts to breach or dip beneath another one. A perfect example of this is the Cascade Range on the West Coast of the United States. Many volcanoes in the world are caused by this but some, the more unpredicatble ones, are caused by magma plumes.

    Remember to always pay attention to all chart labels! All images were generated by myself using the IRIS DMC seismic archive and the FREE seismic program S.W.A.R.M.

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  • Home
  • Yellowstone
    • Yellowstone Blog
    • 2008-2009 Yellowstone Lake Dike Intrusion
    • Rapid-Fire Swarms 2014-2018
    • Steamboat Geyser Eruptions >
      • Steamboat Eruptions 2020
      • Steamboat Eruptions 2019
      • Steamboat Eruptions 2018
  • Hawaii
    • Hawaii Blog
    • Hawaii Spasmodic Tremor
    • 2018 Kilauea-LERZ Eruptions
  • How To...
    • ...Retrieve Seismic Data
    • ...read webicorders/helicorders and seismic plots
    • ...Understand Spectrograms
    • ...USE SWARM Software
    • ...use jamaseis program
    • ...use waves program
    • ...understand UTC
    • ...Read/Create GPS Deformation Charts
    • ...use s.w.a.r.m. program (OLD)
  • Seismic Events
    • Event Examples
    • Exotic Events
    • Whale Calls
    • Cascade Volcanoes' Low Frequency Events
  • Seismo-Blog
  • Other Seismic Blogs
    • Quake Swarms
    • United States
    • East Coast, USA
    • World
  • Monthly Volcano Updates
  • Uplift/Subsidence Update
  • Videos/Multimedia
    • Newberry Videos
    • (OLD) 2019 Monthly/Yearly Updates
  • Seismic Software
    • jAmaSeis
    • SWARM
    • WAVES
  • Seismic Network Help
  • Links
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Test Your Knowledge!
  • Lucas Andrew Ferraiuolo (Pro Pics)
  • Garbage Trucks?!