USGS Volcano Notice - DOI-USGS-YVO-2025-03-01T15:34:56+00:00

YELLOWSTONE VOLCANO OBSERVATORY MONTHLY UPDATE
U.S. Geological Survey
Saturday, March 1, 2025, 8:39 AM MST (Saturday, March 1, 2025, 15:39 UTC)

YELLOWSTONE (VNUM #325010)
44°25'48" N 110°40'12" W, Summit Elevation 9203 ft (2805 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: NORMAL
Current Aviation Color Code: GREEN

Summary

Yellowstone Caldera activity remains at background levels, with 42 located earthquakes in February (largest = M2.6). Deformation measurements indicate a small amount of caldera subsidence since early October.

Recent Work and News

Just before midnight on February 3, Steamboat Geyser had its first major eruption of the year.

Happy 153rd birthday to Yellowstone National Park, which was founded on this day in 1872!

Seismicity

During February 2025, the University of Utah Seismograph Stations, responsible for the operation and analysis of the Yellowstone Seismic Network, located 42 earthquakes in the Yellowstone National Park region. The largest event of the month was a micro earthquake of magnitude 2.6 located about 14 miles southeast of West Thumb in Yellowstone National Park on February 11 at 1:35 AM MST.

February seismicity in Yellowstone was marked by two swarms.

A swarm of 18 earthquakes was located approximately 13 miles south-southwest of Mammoth, in Yellowstone National Park, during February 1–8. The largest earthquake in the sequence was a magnitude 1.6 on February 3 at 1:24 AM MST.

A swarm of 11 earthquakes took place approximately 5 miles south-southeast of West Thumb, in Yellowstone National Park, on February 11. The largest earthquake in the sequence was a magnitude 2.4 on February 11 at 1:44 AM MST.

Yellowstone earthquake activity is currently at background levels.

Ground Deformation

Continuous GPS stations in Yellowstone Caldera recorded a small amount (about 2 centimeters, or 0.8 inches) of subsidence since October. This pattern and rate of subsidence continues a trend that started in 2015–2016. Minor subsidence (less than 1 centimeter) was also measured by a continuous GPS station near Norris Geyser Basin since the end of last summer.

An example of GPS data can be found at http://www.unavco.org/instrumentation/networks/status/pbo/data/NRWY (click on Static Plots / Cleaned)

The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) provides long-term monitoring of volcanic and earthquake activity in the Yellowstone National Park region. Yellowstone is the site of the largest and most diverse collection of natural thermal features in the world and the first National Park. YVO is one of the five USGS Volcano Observatories that monitor volcanoes within the United States for science and public safety.

YVO Member agencies: USGS, Yellowstone National Park, University of Utah, University of Wyoming, Montana State University, Earthscope Consortium, Wyoming State Geological Survey, Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, Idaho Geological Survey

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Michael Poland, Scientist-in-Charge
mpoland@usgs.gov