Part 2: Are the 2014 Seismic Swarms and Strange Rumbles in Cedarville and Surprise Valley Related to the Yellowstone Hot Spot?

“It sounded almost mechanical to us. There was no Doppler effect
at all. It was just a steady, rather loud, low, rumbling roar type of thing.”

- Jean Bilodeaux, Writer-Reporter, Modoc County Record, Alturas, California

Cedarville (red pointer), population 514, is in Surprise Valley of Modoc County, California. The green valley has hot springs and artesian wells. Lassen Volcanic National Park is 143 miles southwest and Vya, Nevada, is 22 miles straight east. All three areas have felt the swarm of earthquakes numbering in the thousands. Some Surprise Valley residents have felt the 112 magnitude-3 and twelve magnitude-4 quakes since they started in July 2014. In addition to increasing quakes, Surprise Valley has also had repeating loud rumbling sounds associated with many appearances of unidentified aerial lights. USGS, Stanford University and other university seismologists are now studying unusual and sudden hot springs temperature changes in November 2014.

Aerial view of Cedarville, population 514, and Surprise Valley. The valley is famous for its many hot springs and some artesian wells. Image © 072508 by Bioflyer.

Return to Part 1.

November 20, 2014 Cedarville, California - Since July 12, 2014, Cedarville has had hundreds of small quakes seeming to increase in magnitude recently, but all very shallow near the surface of the Earth. Eleven occurred today, November 20th, and two were in magnitude 3.0 range. All the persistent seismic swarms over the past four months provoked scientists from USGS and Stanford University, UC-Berkeley, UC-Davis and UN-Reno to visit Surprise Valley to take temperatures of the many hot springs that run the length of the valley near Cedarville. The results have been puzzling. Recently only in November, the same hot spring can measure 150 degrees Fahrenheit or hotter one day, but the next day measure much colder and then rise to a midpoint the next day and then soar back to 150 degrees F. or higher. So far, no one knows why the Surprise Valley hot springs are suddenly so changeable, but assume they are somehow related to the seismic swarms.

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