The northeastern part of the Yellowstone Caldera, with the Yellowstone River flowing through Hayden Valley and the caldera rim in the distance. A caldera is a bowl-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption. (Credit: National Park Service.)

A large supervolcano lies within Yellowstone National Park and between a 4.8-magnitude earthquake last weekend and recent reports of animals fleeing the region, some people are worried there may be a pending eruption.

U.S. Geological Survey experts said Sunday's temblor -- the largest in decades -- doesn't necessarily mean a volcanic eruption is imminent.


One person posted a video of a herd of buffalo, claiming they were running away from the park on a road. The video quickly spread across the internet, causing concern the seeming stampede was an indicator of future eruption.

But Yellowstone Public Affairs Chief Al Nash put that rumor to rest in a YouTube video of his own.

Ilya Bindeman, an associate professor of geological sciences at the University of Oregon said it's not likely the supervolcano, also called the Yellowstone caldera, will erupt in our lifetime.

“Yellowstone is one of the biggest supervolcanos in the world,” he said. “Sometimes it erupts quietly with lava flow, but once or twice every million years, it erupts very violently, forming large calderas."

He said the volcano isn't likely to erupt for another 1 million years.

[UPDATED to add response from Yellowstone Public Affairs Chief Al Nash]

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