Giant Supervolcano in California Is Sleepy, But Scientists Say It's Restless
A new study from researchers at the California Institute of Technology (CIT) suggests the Long Valley Caldera in eastern California is restlessly tossing and turning as its deep magma chamber cools down for a big, long sleep.
The last time the volcano blew was roughly 100,000 years ago. Long before that, it spewed up enough ash to bury the modern city of Los Angeles beneath a kilometer of sediment.
Today, the Long Valley volcano exists in a relatively sluggish state. But all is not quiet on California's eastern front. In the late 1970s, a swarm of earthquakes began to emanate from the caldera – a depression that sits atop the buried volcano.