Internet Thinks Yellowstone Super Volcano is Next 2020 Disaster
2020 has been a year unlike any other due to the pandemic and other adjacent crisis that have developed. If the internet is to be believed (just don't), the Yellowstone super volcano will be the next big event we'll have to deal with.
How many times have we debunked this? Let me count the ways. I only bring this up again because there are a new wave of conspiracy theories about what's gonna make the super volcano underneath Yellowstone go boom. Most recently are trying to tie the 6.5 earthquake in Idaho and the big 5.7 quake in Salt Lake City to Yellowstone. Forbes even did a story about the newest Yellowstone conspiracy theories. The voices have been so loud about this, the USGS recently had to do a special report via Twitter.
There's even a new FYI Show video on YouTube that shows stick figure drawings about what would happen if Yellowstone erupted. I'm not kidding. This was just done earlier this week. See it for yourself.
If you Google "will Yellowstone erupt", you'll find at least a bazillion conspiracy theory sites. Among those, you will also find an official USGS response about how likely we are to see Yellowstone kill us all. Here's a key part of that site:
Most volcanic systems that have a supereruption do not have them multiple times. When supereruptions do occur more than once in a volcanic system, they are not evenly spaced in time.
Yes, it has been over 600,000 years since Yellowstone super volcano erupted the last time some scientists believe. Yes, previous eruptions are estimated to be at that interval. No, it doesn't mean it has to happen that way again. Sigh.
It's a fact that Yellowstone could erupt tomorrow (or today) and the earth could blow sky high. The point of this is that there's no real way to know for sure and many geologists believe we would at least see harmonic tremors or some other major seismic stuff going on before it could potentially happen. The USGS estimates that we would at least know weeks prior if not months and years if Yellowstone were about to blow. So, how about we relax and focus on the actual crisis in progress and not imagine something that may or may not ever be a thing.