Biggest Earthquake Since 2023 Rumbles Under Yellowstone, Felt 30 Miles Away

A magnitude 3.9 earthquake was recorded in Yellowstone National Park around 6 p.m. Tuesday with an epicenter west of the Grand Loop Road near Roaring Mountain and the Norris Geyser Basin.  

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, at least 33 people within 30 miles of the earthquake reported feeling it. Their descriptions of the earthquake’s impact ranged from weak to very light.

It’s Yellowstone's first “big” earthquake of the year, but it isn’t anything to worry about. It might not even be the biggest before the end of January.

Mike Poland, scientist in charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, said it’s just Yellowstone being Yellowstone.

“This was the first magnitude 3.0 earthquake of 2025, and it won’t be the last,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “Nothing particularly anomalous about this one.”

Thousands Of Quakes

Around 1,173 earthquakes were recorded in Yellowstone in 2024. That was on the lower end for the region, which usually averages 1,500 to 2,500 quakes annually.

Tuesday’s earthquake was more powerful than the largest quake in 2024, which was magnitude 3.3. Still, Poland said it was still within the realm of what’s expected for Yellowstone.

“Earthquakes that get into the magnitude 3 range are rare, but there’s usually three to ten of those in the Yellowstone area every year,” he said. “The vast majority of earthquakes are magnitude two and below.”

Yellowstone is one of the most tectonically active places in North America, with several faults moving against each other. That activity is augmented by hydrothermal activity, as water moves upward through underground fissures, reaching the surface in the park’s geysers, hot springs, mud pots, and other thermal features.

“With so many faults in the region and a lot of water moving around the subsurface, that’s a recipe for lots and lots of earthquakes,” Poland said.

However, none of these earthquakes are volcanic. Despite the partially molten magma still churning miles under Yellowstone, Poland said nearly all the earthquakes recorded in the park occur much closer to the surface and aren’t caused by volcanic processes.

“They’re not associated with or a sign of any volcanic activity,” he said.

Cause Or Coincidence?

Since Tuesday evening’s earthquake occurred near Norris Geyser Basin, many people are eagerly anticipating an eruption of Steamboat Geyser. The largest geyser in the world seems to be winding down after a very active period of eruptions, but could an earthquake be enough to shake things up?

A research paper published in the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, and Geosystems last year suggested that environmental factors like drought and snow could impact Steamboat’s eruptions. However, the paper also said, “no regional or remote earthquakes were a combination of large enough and close enough that they could have initiated the onset of eruptions.”

Poland said even if a localized earthquake triggered a Steamboat eruption, it would be nearly impossible to verify it. Unlike other geysers, like Old Faithful, Steamboat Geyser doesn’t have a predictable eruption pattern – it goes when it goes.

“If Steamboat erupts in a week, is that related to this earthquake or just the eruption that was going to happen anyway? It’s difficult to answer those questions, especially since Steamboat is still active and has been active for several years. It could be cause or coincidence.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, Steamboat Geyser hadn’t erupted since Nov. 23, 2024.

All Quiet In Laramie

Tuesday’s earthquake was detected by several seismographs stationed throughout the Greater Yellowstone Region. Meanwhile, it was all quiet in Laramie.

James Mauch, a geologist with the Wyoming Geological Survey, confirmed that the Raspberry Shake seismograph recently installed near Laramie didn’t pick up the Yellowstone quake. It was too small and too far away.

“We’re about 350 miles from the epicenter,” he said. “Similar seismographs to ours in Hoback Junction picked it up, but they were within 100 miles. It was a bit too far away and low in magnitude to detect in Laramie.”

Mauch said it would be difficult to determine how powerful a Yellowstone earthquake would need to be to be detected in Laramie. Seismographs are extremely sensitive instruments that detect a wide range of movement, which must be identified and ignored when studying earthquakes.

“Any kind of disturbance, from wind blowing to passing vehicles, can create ‘background noise,’” he said, “and more noise means the earthquake needs to be larger for the seismograph to pick up the signal. A lot of that depends on the earthquake's depth and how much noise the seismograph is sensing at any one time.”

Still, Mauch could confirm that the magnitude 3.9 earthquake was “very typical activity for Yellowstone.” He also said it’s the largest earthquake in Yellowstone since a magnitude 3.7 was recorded in March 2023.

“This is very typical of Yellowstone,” he said. “We typically get around five ‘felt’ earthquakes every year, so this is right in line with the average.”

Big Enough To Shake Things Up

Tuesday’s earthquake was probably not large enough to leave a lasting impact on Yellowstone. However, powerful earthquakes in the vicinity have a history of causing permanent changes in the park.

Poland cited several earthquakes in the last century that caused permanent changes in the behavior of Yellowstone’s thermal features.

“The classic Hebgen Lake Earthquake in 1959 changed the behavior of a lot of geysers, caused some pools to erupt, and even changed the interval between eruptions of Old Faithful,” he said. “The magnitude 6.9 Boar Peak Earthquake in Idaho did the same thing to Steamboat in 1983.”

More recently, the 2002 Denali Earthquake, magnitude 7.9, was powerful enough to be picked up in Yellowstone. It triggered a swarm of minor quakes and hydrothermal activities in Yellowstone and other hydrothermal systems throughout the Western U.S.

“It's like gently shaking a can of soda,” he said. “Bubbles form, and you get little earthquakes as those bubbles change pressure. A lot of smaller earthquakes seemed to happen in response to the Denali Earthquake.”

Nevertheless, Poland believes Tuesday’s earthquake was too “run of the mill” to do anything other than send a few tremors through Yellowstone’s gateway communities. And there’s plenty more where that came from.

“There was nothing particularly unusual about this one,” he said. “We expect at least a few earthquakes of this magnitude every year, and there will be more, no doubt.”

Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.