Yellowstone Sees More than 1,200 Earthquakes Over the Last Week

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By The Associated Press

Story Published: Jan 25, 2010 at 4:42 PM MDT

Story Updated: Jan 25, 2010 at 4:59 PM MDT

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Yellowstone National Park is shaking again, but so far the jitters seem to be few.

Over eight days, 1,271 tiny quakes have struck between Old Faithful and West Yellowstone, Mont. The largest 11, including three late Sunday and early Monday, ranged between magnitudes 3.0 and 3.8.

That's strong enough to feel - barely. Likewise, the online rumor mill hasn't really picked up on this quake swarm.

Rampant speculation that a volcanic eruption might soon rock Yellowstone accompanied a quake swarm beneath Yellowstone Lake just over a year ago.

Yellowstone sits atop a supervolcano that last had a caldera-forming eruption 640,000 years ago. Geologists say relatively mundane fault slippage causes the frequent quakes.

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