Although it's not likely to erupt anytime soon, a full explosion would be bad news for nature enthusiasts and a slew of folks anywhere near the park [sources: USGS, Lemas]. A powerful Yellowstone volcano eruption has the potential to wipe out the national park and plunge the US into a volcanic winter.. While a Yellowstone eruption would definitely be a cause for concern, it would be unlikely to cause human extinction. “This is a very significant decline.” This was Yellowstone's largest eruption on record. If that doesn't put you at ease, rest assured that the USGS has calculated the yearly risk of an eruption and it's pretty low, coming in at 1 in 730,000 — or that aforementioned 0.00014 percent chance.. The younger of the two, the Grey’s Landing super eruption, is now the largest recorded event of the entire Yellowstone volcanic province, erupting more than 2800 km 3 of volcanic material in a single event. What Are the Chances of Surviving the Mammoth Yellowstone Eruption? Yellowstone National Park sits atop of an active volcanic hotspot responsible for at least three cataclysmic eruptions in the past. The Yellowstone supervolcano is a massive source of granitic magma that rests miles under the park's surface. Data collected on the history of the supervolcano revealed that its major eruptions occurred once every 600,000 to 800,000 years. By Lee Crain. Advertisement A smaller eruption that took place 174,000 years ago created the West Thumb area of Yellowstone Lake. The supervolcano, Yellowstone, was erupting. It's been a long while since it last exploded so it may be a threat sooner than we would like. Since December 1, an earthquake swarm is hitting beneath the eastern part of Yellowstone … “It therefore seems that the Yellowstone hotspot has experienced a three-fold decrease in its capacity to produce super-eruption events,” says Knott. The supervolcano beneath Yellowstone National Park has not erupted for around 70,000 years. 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