The United States Geological Survey
recorded a Magnitude 4.8 Earthquake at a depth of 10 km in southern Teton County in northwest Wyoming, slightly after 2.45 pm
local time (slightly after 8.45 pm GMT) on Saturday 27 August 2016. There
are no reports of any damage or casualties associated with this event,
though people have reported feeling it across much of northwest Wyoming and southeast Idaho.
The approximate location of the 27 August 2016 Teton County Earthquake. Google.
Wyoming typically suffers two or three moderate sized Earthquakes per
year, though quakes large enough to cause significant damage are rare.
The mountainous areas of the west of the state have a number of deeply
buried faults where occasional movement occurs. This can be caused by
movement around the Yellowstone Magma Chamber in the northeast of the
state, an area that suffers more-or-less constant small tremors due to
the movement of magma beneath the surface, but which seldom experiences
larger quakes. The constant small movements around Yellowstone can lead
to stress building up in rocks further away, leading to Earthquakes as
the rocks release the strain by readjusting their positions, which can
affect Wyoming as well as neighbouring Idaho and Montana. The same
faults also suffer stress due to more distant rock movements, notably on
the subduction zone on the American west coast.
Yellowstone is home to one of the world’s largest active
volcanic systems. Cataclysmic eruptions in the past few million years
created huge volcanic depressions called “calderas.” The youngest, the
Yellowstone Caldera, was formed 640,000 years ago. Since then, about 80
eruptions of rhyolite (thick, sticky lava) and basalt (more-fluid lava)
have occurred. The caldera’s interior is largely covered by rhyolites,
most erupted in the past 160,000 years. Large hydrothermal
(steam)-explosion craters formed in the past 14,000 years are located
near Yellowstone Lake and in major geyser basins. Recent earthquakes
(1973 to 2002) were concentrated between Hebgen Lake and the Norris Geyser Basin and along faults. USGS.
Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events and the underlying structures that cause them. If you felt this quake (or if you were in the area but did not, which is also useful information) then you can report it to the United States Geological Survey here.
See also...
'Mysterious' crack on Wyoming hillside linked to slow-moving landslip. A group of hunters in Washakie County in northern Wyoming reported
finding an apparently...
Magnitude 3.4 Earthquake in the Yellowstone National Park, northwest Wyoming. The United States Geological Survey
recorded a Magnitude 3.4...
Worker killed at North Antelope Rochelle Mine, Wyoming. A worker has been killed at the Peabody Energy operated North Antelope Rochelle Mine in Campbell County, Wyoming, on Wednesday 4 June 2014. The incident
happened at about 6.00 a, when a crushing...
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