USGS Volcano Notice - DOI-USGS-YVO-2023-11-01T13:11:05-07:00

Recent Work and News

Steamboat Geyser erupted on October 8—its 7th major water eruption of 2023. Since that time, the geyser has been quiet, with no minor eruptions.

Winter has arrived in Yellowstone, and snow is beginning to fall.  Although some field work will continue in the weeks to come, most YVO field operations have been completed for the year, and new operations will not begin until May.
 

Seismicity

During October 2023, the University of Utah Seismograph Stations, responsible for the operation and analysis of the Yellowstone Seismic Network, located 113 earthquakes in the Yellowstone National Park region. The largest event of the month was a minor earthquake of magnitude 3.3 located about 12 miles north of Pahaska Tepee, Wyoming, on October 10 at 5:09 AM MDT.  

October seismicity in Yellowstone was marked by one swarm of 42 earthquakes, located approximately 16 miles east-northeast of West Yellowstone, Montana, that occurred October 3–5. The largest earthquake in the sequence was a micro earthquake of magnitude 2.4 on October 3 at 10:21 PM MDT.

Yellowstone earthquake activity is currently at background levels.

Ground Deformation

During the month of October, continuous GPS stations in Yellowstone caldera showed a return to the subsidence that has been ongoing since 2015, interrupted only in summer months by a pause caused by groundwater accumulation from runoff.  At the end of October an apparent subsidence of about 2 cm (less than 1 in) is apparent in most GPS stations throughout the region.  This is caused by heavy snow accumulating on GPS antennas from the first winter storm to strike the area and is not related to ground deformation.

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