Mamut, Wyo. -The oldest and most hot geothermal region of the Yellowstone National Park, a favorite place for visitors to the park, was shaken by a moderate earthquake on Tuesday night.
The US geological survey (USGS) reported a magnitude 3.7 earthquake near Mammoth, Wyoming, around 18:00 mst, near the Norris Geyser pool. Seismologists said several people in the Yellowstone area were reporting trembling.
“The earthquake is characteristic of the Yellowstone area and is not a sign of significant excitement,” the agency said after the earthquake.
The National Park Service (NPS) said the Norris Geyser pool is home to some really extreme geothermal characteristics.
The highest temperature, ever recorded in Yellowstone (459 degrees), is measured in a drill hole in Norris, only 1.087 feet below the surface, emphasizing the intense heat and activity in the area, NPS added. In Norris there are very few thermal characteristics below the boiling point at 199 degrees at this elevation.
Norris shows evidence that he has had thermal characteristics for at least 115,000 years, according to NPS. The characteristics in the pool change daily, with frequent disorders of seismic activity and fluctuations in water.
The area was named after Philetus W. Norris, the second head of Yellowstone, which provided the first detailed information on thermal characteristics.
While Yellowstone is often shaken by small earthquakes – an average of 1500 to 2500 years – the Yellowstone volcano observatory notes that the greater earthquakes also hit the area.
The largest recorded earthquake in the park, Magnitud 6, happened on June 30, 1975, along the northern central border of Yellowstone Caldera, a few miles southeast of the Norris Geyser pool. No injuries were reported and all campsites and facilities in Park remained open.