Earthquake Hype

For those of you who were wondering, yes I was in Gardiner when the 4.8 magnitude earthquake occurred on March 30 at 6:34 am.  I was at work, and I didn't even notice the it.  Gardiner is about 20 miles north of the epicenter of the quake.

I did have the fortune of having two men who worked for the USGS staying at the hotel I work at during this event.  They were monitoring equipment in Yellowstone Park and were intrigued by the swarm of earthquakes (there were seven that morning), but were not in the least concerned.  It was great being able to glean from their knowledge on geology.

Having lived in this part of the country for many years, earthquakes are normal.  I haven't felt any of them so far, but I've seen their effects.  A few years ago, a piece of equipment tipped over in my yard from a small earthquake near West Yellowstone.  That earthquake was insignificant, even to memory; it seems like it was a three-point-something on the Richter scale.

Earthquakes are important for Yellowstone National Park's plumbing.  If Yellowstone didn't get earthquakes, we wouldn't have Old Faithful.  If you think I'm kidding, just look it up!

Many people have been worried and terrified that this was precedent of our super volcano's eruption.  Most of this came from a video that claimed that bison were "running for their lives" out of the park.  Consequently, the idea that animals were fleeing the park became viral on the Internet.  One friend of mine even reported that someone asked her on the phone where she worked if people were evacuating.

Lies—all lies.

The truth of the matter was that those bison in the video were running into the park, and they were certainly not running for their lives.  When bison really run, they go about 45 mph.  That's much faster than the video showed.  The video footage was during the daytime, but the earthquake was around or before dawn.

Animals have been coming out of the park lately, but they haven't gone very far.  They're following the food.  Yellowstone Park is still covered in snow, and Gardiner is just starting to see green grass.

Unfortunately we live in a climate of fear.  People want to to be afraid of something, whether it's a volcanic eruption, or fear of political outcomes, or something else.  When any sort of news comes to light that validates their fears (whether true or false), people run with it.

We should take the attitude of these bison in this video.  I took this video in my yard the same day as the earthquake.  They're certainly not worried.

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?" (Luke 12:25 NIV)