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A minor earthquake has hit Yellowstone National Park , sway the hottest and oldest geothermic country in the region .

The order of magnitude 3.9 tremor gain near Norris Geyser Basin in Wyoming on Tuesday ( Jan. 28 ) at 6 p.m. Mountain Standard Time ( 8 p.m. EST ) .

A geyser in Norris Geyser Basin, close to where the Yellowstone National Park earthquake struck.

A geyser in Norris Geyser Basin, close to where the Yellowstone National Park earthquake struck.

" The seism is distinctive of the Yellowstone region and not a signboard of any pregnant unrest , and it was account feel by a few people in the Yellowstone region , " the U.S. Geological Survey ( USGS ) wrote in aFacebook Emily Price Post .

Scientists grade the size of it of earthquake with themagnitude scale of measurement . Earthquakes with a order of magnitude of around 4 are minor quake that can be felt by humans . The seism in Yellowstone was normal for the region , agree to USGS .

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a photo of people standing in front of the wreckage of a building

Yellowstone is seismically fighting and experiencesabout 1,500 to 2,000 earthquakeseach year . Most of these shakes are up to magnitude 2 , but some are higher , like the one in Norris Geyser Basin on Tuesday .

Norris Geyser Basin is the hot and old geothermal area in Yellowstone and home to the tallestgeyserin the world , which shoots hot water and steam 300 to 400 feet ( 90 to 120 meters ) into the melodic phrase , according to theNational Park Service . The drainage area sits at the product of two fault — fracture between two blocks of rock that can slip past one another and cause earthquakes .

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The largest earthquake ever record within the parking lot strike close to Norris Geyser Basin in 1975 . That quake was a order of magnitude 6 , but there was little hurt and no injuries report at the clip , according to USGS’sYellowstone Volcano Observatory .

A researcher examines the Lava Creek Tuff in Wyoming. We see flat-topped mountains in the background.

There are about half a million minor earthquakes within the 2.5 to 5.4 order of magnitude chain every year worldwide . Those in the magnitude 6 ambit commonly number about 100 and can cause significant legal injury to populated field . scientist consider less - usual magnitude 7 - range earthquakes to be major earthquakes , while the exceptionally uncommon magnitude 8 quake — average about one per yr or every other year — are great earthquakes , according toMichigan Technological University .

Thelargest recorded earthquakein U.S. story had a magnitude of 9.2 . hit Alaska in 1964 and trip a tsunami , this peachy earthquake ensue in the deaths of 128 people and about $ 311 million in holding loss .

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Screen-capture of a home security camera facing a front porch during an earthquake.

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Grand Prismatic Spring, Midway Geyser, Yellowstone.

Small ghostly lights appear along a dirt track.

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A view of Santorini

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A tree is silhouetted against the full completed Annular Solar Eclipse on October 14, 2023 in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.

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