Yellowstone earthquake activity is currently at elevated levels.
During July 2017 528 earthquakes in the Yellowstone National Park region.
The largest event was a minor earthquake of magnitude 3.6 on July 18, at 20:31 UTC (14:31 MDT), located about 14.5 km (9 miles) north northeast of West Yellowstone, MT. The earthquake was reported felt in the town of West Yellowstone, MT. This earthquake is part of a continued energetic sequence of earthquakes in the same area that began on June 12, 2017.
July seismicity in Yellowstone was marked by the ongoing seismicity ~9.6 km (6 miles) north of West Yellowstone, MT where an energetic swarm added an additional 475 earthquakes in July to the 1028 earthquakes in June.
The swarm includes the largest event of the month on July 18 (magnitude 3.6). Swarm activity for July consists of two earthquakes in the magnitude 3 range and 40 earthquakes in the magnitude 2 range. Including the events from last month beginning on June 12, total swarm seismicity includes one earthquake of magnitude 4.4, seven in the magnitude 3 range, and 112 earthquakes in the magnitude 2 range.
Earthquake sequences like these are common and account for roughly 50% of the total seismicity in the Yellowstone region.
Current deformation patterns at Yellowstone remain within historical norms. Nevertheless, Yellowstone earthquake activity is currently at elevated levels compared with typical background activity.
