Yellowstone volcano: Cracks appear in rocks - Is it sign of Yellowstone eruption looming?

Grand Teton is located about 60 miles from the Yellowstone National Park, in the wester US-state Wyoming.

Last week, park officials discovered a huge crack in the rocks which is about 100 feet long and runs horizontally along a rock wall that's at least 100 feet tall.

"Yesterday, Exum guides noticed cracks in the rocks," Teton park spokeswoman Denise Germann said. "They communicated that to rangers this morning, and when they went to investigate they realized it had actually gotten bigger and expanded."

The Yellowstone-Grand Teton National Park area is among the most geologically active in the country. 

However, that activity does not mean a super eruption is imminent.

Is huge fissure a sign of eruption looming? 

Rangers temporarily closed the Hidden Falls and the area around the giant crack amid safety concerns a rock wall could collapse and "tumble down onto onlookers".

It is currently unclear how the crack opened but it is likely due to normal seismic activity in the national park area.

While it could be a sign that Yellowstone is reawakening.

The reawakening of the volcano would be devastating for the USA as an estimated 87,000 people would be killed immediately as two-thirds the USA would be destroyed. 

However, Teton park spokeswoman Denise Germann has stresesd there is no need to panic about an impending eruption. 

Grand Teton does not sit directly above Yellowstone's magma chambers, but the whole area is susceptible to ground movement due to geological activity, so cracks are not unusual.

And the USGS says the odds of Yellowstone erupting are 0.00014 percent — lower than the odds of getting hit by a civilisation-destroying asteroid.

In fact, some say that the supervolcano may never erupt again. 

What is the Yellowstone volcano?
 
The caldera formed during the last three super eruptions over the past 2.1 million years. 

These include the Huckleberry Ridge eruption 2.1 million years ago, the Mesa Falls eruption 1.3 million years ago and the Lava Creek eruption around 630,000 years ago, which created the Yellowstone Caldera and the Lava Creek Tuff. 

The elevation of the Yellowstone Caldera is 2,805m (9,203ft). 

The magma reservoir beneath Yellowstone measures 37 miles long, 18 miles wide and three to seven miles deep. 

The major features of the caldera measure about 34 by 45 miles (55 by 72 km).

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