Yellowstone Officials: Volcano Eruption Rumors a Hoax, No Evacuation
OutdoorHub Reporters 08.13.14
Officials at Yellowstone National Park and the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) find themselves quelling fears recently after rumors of volcanic activity in the park. The rumors originated online and were quickly picked up by social media posters, which reportedly concerned many visitors to the park.
“The park has not been evacuated,” read a statement by the YVO on the US Geographic Service website. “This one is pretty easy to verify by everyone. If the Old Faithful webcam shows people, or if news articles are coming out about a hobbyist’s remote control helicopter crashing into a hot spring, Yellowstone is certainly open for business.”
According to KECI, Yellowstone Park spokesperson Al Nash said the scare started on civictribune.com, which has an article warning of an imminent eruption from the Yellowstone Caldera. The same article also stated that the park has been evacuated and that volcanic activity has been up in the last several weeks.
Needless to say, Yellowstone officials say that those claims are false.
“Though we love doing research at YVO, we prefer it when the research is on topics geological rather than the origin of false rumors,” YCO said. “Nevertheless, we have received enough concerned emails and phone calls that we’ve spent some time tracking down a few of the statements made on various ‘alternative Internet news sources.'”
Rumors of the Yellowstone Caldera’s, also known as the Yellowstone Supervolcano, imminent eruption is frequent among online pranksters. Last year the sight of migrating bison fleeing down a road also prompted fears that the volcano was set to erupt. Instead, YCO volcanologists say that the Caldera is not likely to erupt anytime soon.
