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The magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocked southern California at approximately 4:09 am (8:20 pm PT) just 16 km from Ridgecrest, California. Two days earlier, the USGS had recorded a 6.4 magnitude earthquake and aftershocks at the same location. Neither earthquake has been powerful to interfere with the Yellowstone volcano caldera in the northwestern United States. But fears of an earthquake-triggered eruption have flooded social media, people voicing their concerns online.
An alarmist tweet said, "The number of earthquakes in California is really alarming and they seem to be lining up.
"Yellowstone could be affected by movements in California and also shows tremendous signs of awakening."
Another person tweeted: "If San Andreas is sufficiently affected, a massive earthquake could shake the west coast of California. If this happens, it could trigger an eruption of Yellowstone's supervolcan, which could kill $ 5 billion. "
Another person also asked, "What would happen if the earthquakes in California were just obstacles to the big eruption of the Yellowstone volcano?"
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And yet, despite these terrible messages of misfortune, geologists do not believe in any connection between the supervolcano and the earthquakes in California.
In the July 8 issue of the weekly column Caldera Chronicles, USGS chief scientist Michael Poland explained why there is nothing to be afraid of.
The geophysicist said, "With the two powerful earthquakes in southern California in recent days – an M6.4 on July 4 and an M7.1 a day later – it's a natural question: do these earthquakes they trigger volcanic eruptions? Including maybe in Yellowstone?
"There was apparently a spike in Internet research on this very issue. So we thought that it would be wise to treat it early in this week's edition of Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles.
READ MORE: 99% chance that the BIG ONE will travel to California in 30 years
"If you want the short version of history, here it is: earthquakes like those of last week are unlikely to trigger volcanic eruptions, although they can trigger earthquakes on some volcanoes. "
According to the USGS, earthquakes of magnitude 6 to 7 are common in this part of the world.
Since 1900, the geological agency has stated that there were more than 100 earthquakes of magnitude 6 in the United States.
Earthquakes of magnitude 7 and higher are less frequent and there have been only nine in the last century.
READ MORE: "Big One is late" and Los Angeles "lives on borrowed time"
Most of these earthquakes hit California and, fortunately, none of them has caused the Yellowstone eruption.
Dr. Poland said, "By using a simple dose of common sense, we can see that this is the case only from recent history.
"In 1992, there was an earthquake of M7.3 – the Landers earthquake – about 40 km north of Palm Springs in southern California.
"And in 1999, there was an M7.1 event – the Hector Mine earthquake – about 90 km north of Palm Springs. None of these caused an eruption, in Yellowstone or anywhere else – not in Coso California, near Ridgecrest, site of the recent powerful earthquakes, nor in Long Caldera, in the United States. is from California, near Mammoth, etc. ".
Whatever the case may be, the scientist said that the proximity of a volcano mattered little.
When a magnitude 7.3 earthquake erupted within the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park in 1959, the supervolcan did not break out.
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