Here's how AI helped researchers discover thousands of mini earthquakes beneath Yellowstone
The group of researchers used artificial intelligence to analyze 15 years of seismic data and located over 86,000 mini-earthquake events under the Yellowstone region.
Yellowstone National Park
A look at the United States' first National Park: Yellowstone.
Tens of thousands of hidden earthquakes were recently discovered beneath the Yellowstone volcano by a group of international scientists, revealing ways to better inform the public of potential risks.
The group of researchers used artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze 15 years of seismic data, from 2008 through 2022, and located over 86,000 mini-earthquake events under the Yellowstone region. These events went undetected for years.
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The study, which was published in Science Advances, uncovered 10 times more seismic events than previously recorded.
"So, this is applying techniques on a much larger spatial area and a much larger time period than had been done previously," David Shelly, seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), said. "When we go back and look all the data together, we can detect more earthquakes, and we can get much better locations for those earthquakes."
The largest hot spring in Yellowstone National Park is Grand Prismatic Spring.
(Inger Vandyke / VW PICS / Universal Images Group / Getty Images)
Shelly, who was one of the researchers on the study, told FOX Weather that the team utilized a machine-learning approach to sift through 15 years of recorded seismic waves and vibrations of the Earth, to identify the arrival of earthquake waves.
This technique was able to detect very small earthquakes, typically less than magnitude 1.5, that were not identified by the routine monitoring system.
The map shows the relocated Yellowstone seismicity recorded from 2008 to 2022.
(Yellowstone Volcano Observatory / FOX Weather)
The AI program then placed the data into a 3D map of the Earth so that the scientist would be able to view the precise location of the previous undetected seismic activity.
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In total, over 67,000 earthquakes were successfully relocated.
"By measuring, essentially, the timing of those arrivals and doing that at stations that are located in different places, well, you can both know that an earthquake happened, but then you can also determine where that earthquake happened in three-dimensional space," Shelly said. "So, both horizontally and how deep it was."
A localized hydrothermal explosion at Yellowstone National Park sent terrified people running and forced officials to close Biscuit Basin.
(Vlada March via Storyful / FOX Weather)
Yellowstone supervolcano is one of the most powerful volcanic systems in the world
Formed over 640,000 years ago, Yellowstone is one of the largest active volcanoes in the world.
The caldera is 30 by 45 miles and contains over 10,000 geothermal features.
If it erupted today, it would cover two-thirds of the U.S., killing everything in its path and making the entire country uninhabitable for years.
A road cuts through the majestic landscape of Yellowstone National Park in 2022.
(Robert Ray / FOX Weather)
52% of seismic events in the study are linked to earthquake swarms
The study provided an improved look into the long-term behavior at Yellowstone by revealing that many of these earthquakes happen in swarms, which are groups of small, interconnected earthquakes that occur over an extended period of time.
Most swarms only last for days to weeks, but the study found that swarms that happened years apart can still occur in nearly the same physical location.
"We think much of this activity is triggered by fluids, basically water moving deep in the earth where the earthquakes are happening," Shelly said.
"And it may be that water moves for a little bit and triggers a bunch of earthquakes, and then it stays in one place for a while and doesn't trigger any earthquakes, and then, for whatever reason, perhaps a decade later it might start moving again. And that's one way that you could get this kind of adjacent swarm behavior that we've observed," he continued.
A geothermal pool is seen at Yellowstone National Park in October 2021.
(Robert Ray/FOX Weather)
Scientists believe that this research not only provides more insight into the Yellowstone seismicity, it's also critical in monitoring the hidden earthquake swarm patterns around the world.
The breakthrough AI tools could help expose the dangers that may creep beneath the surface.
"We monitor earthquakes as disaster preparedness and response. And so, certainly in that context, these tools are helping with the things that we do kind of every day in that realm," Shelly said.