The last supereruption at Yellowstone volcano was preceded by multiple explosions taking place over the course of decades, scientists have discovered. The Lava Creek Tuff eruption took place 631,000 years ago and researchers studying the event have found unexpected rock deposits that suggest the event was far more complicated than previously thought.
Around 74,000 years ago, a “supereruption” on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, blasted out an estimated 5,000 cubic kilometres of magma. This was the Toba eruption, the largest volcanic eruption of the past 2 million years. To put 5,000 cubic kilometres of magma in perspective, this is more than a hundred times as large as the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, and included enough ash to blanket the entire United Kingdom about 1 millimetre deep.
Although fears of a Yellowstone volcanic blast go viral every few years, there are better things to worry about than a catastrophic supereruption exploding from the bowels of Yellowstone National Park.
