Following a swarm of over 1100 earthquakes recorded in the Yellowstone caldera over the past month, prompting scientists to voice concerns about a dormant Yellowstone “Supervolcano” slowly waking up, overnight these concerns escalated after a strong M5.8 earthquake hit western Montana early on Thursday morning – the strongest quake to hit the area in the past 20 years – the U.S. Geological Survey reported, with Reuters adding that the tremor was felt hundreds of miles away, from Missoula to Billings and some surrounding states.
The quake appears to be the largest to hit Montana since a slightly weaker M5.6 struck outside of Dillon a dozen years ago. By comparison, the state’s largest quake which struck the West Yellowstone region 58-years ago was 7.2 magnitude.
