HappyTrails

Volcanoes are fascinating and have always commanded my interest — but never up close.  A trip to the Hawaiian islands some day would be fascinating with at least one side trip at a safe distance to view any gently erupting volcanoes firsthand, but, again, never up close.  A Supervolcano like Yellowstone in Yellowstone National Park, well, forget it about it, pictures and videos will more than suffice for me.  If that caldera ever erupts, most all of us can say good by.

What has peaked my interest are the recent swarms of small earthquakes, over 250 of them, and so far, the biggest has been a 3.9.  The caldera is somewhere around 60 miles long, and Yellowstone Park is right inside the caldera.  That would be a fantastic vacation, but German Gal here is practical.  It makes no sense to me to go trekking through all the natural wonders and scenic beauty, knowing that we would be walking on top of untold billions of tons of hot magma that scientists truly do not know the stability.  I am not going there to visit, and you can’t make me.

The current swarm of earthquakes is worrisome because there have been so many within a short amount of time, and that is unusual.   All we can do is hope and pray that the recent activity is not signaling a tremendous eruption to come.  The Discovery Channel has a simple pictorial explanation how Yellowstone moved through Idaho to Wyoming, and other interesting information.  http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/supervolcano/interactive/interactive.htm

Here is a video of the Mt. St. Helens’ eruption, but keep in mind, this is tiny, considering the devastation that could be caused due the enormous size of the Yellowstone supervolcano.

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