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Water released from magma can trigger earthquakes in Yellowstone National Park
Pressure variations associated with water flowing through the crust (the outermost layer of the Earth) can trigger earthquakes. This is because pressurized fluids inside a fault zone can partially counter the force pressing the two blocks of rock on both sides of a fault together, making it easier for those blocks to slip along the fault. […]
What causes earthquake swarms in Yellowstone?
Earthquake swarms—sequences of elevated earthquake activity with no clear mainshock—are common at Yellowstone and many other places. Swarms occur in a variety of volcanic and tectonic settings and have several possible causes. Some swarms are driven by slow fault slip that causes earthquakes on few sticky patches of the fault. Other swarms are generated when magma-filled cracks push […]