Visitors to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, expect to be thrilled by the rampant geothermal activity to be seen all over the area. From fumaroles smoking in the middle of a parking lot, to bubbling mud pools, to geysers that shoot steam hundreds of feet into the sky, the awe keeps them coming back for more.
But on Tuesday tourists got more than they bargained for, as a hydrothermal explosion occurred at Biscuit Basin, near the Sapphire Pool, shooting hot water and rocks in the air. The Basin is about two miles north of Old Faithful Geyser, one of the main attractions at Yellowstone.
The explosion that happened around 10 AM sent tourists running for safety as it destroyed a section of boardwalk, officials said. Though extremely alarming, no injuries were reported, according to the United States Geological Survey, but the area remained closed to the public.
Vlada March, one of the onlookers who recorded it on her cellphone, can be heard shouting at her two children to run. She recounts that as she was taking a guided tour with her family, the guide pointed out steam rising from the ground.
“‘Oh look,’ he said. ‘This is unusual.’ I took out my phone like everyone does. Suddenly it became a huge, dark cloud full of rocks,” she said in a phone interview with The New York Times. “It was a huge cloud, it covered the sun. For a few moments, you couldn’t see the sun it was so dark.”
March, of Palm Desert, Cal., shouted for her two young sons to run and anxiously tried to find her 70-year-old mother, whom she had lost sight of. When her mother reappeared, Ms. March said, “she was covered in ash, head to toe.”
Events like these, though always surprising and unexpected, are not unusual. Yellowstone National Park is one of the most active volcanic areas in the world, with a history of massive eruptions and a landscape still shaped by geothermal activity. The park sits atop a volcanic hot spot, which fuels its famous geysers, hot springs, and fumaroles. While it’s been tens of thousands of years since the last major eruption, the Earth beneath Yellowstone is very much alive. The ground swells and subsides as magma and gases move below, and earthquakes are common.
The explosion that occurred at Biscuit Basin reminds us of the dynamic nature of this region and the thrill of meandering among its many exciting sights.
