Yellowstone’s restless ground is on the move again. Since July 2025, instruments on the park’s north rim have recorded roughly an inch of uplift, a subtle rise that mirrors the pattern that preceded Yellowstone’s largest earthquake since 1980. The change is small enough that visitors will not notice it underfoot, but it is large enough to sharpen scientific focus on what is happening beneath one of the world’s most closely watched volcanoes.
That inch of motion is part of a broader swelling of the Yellowstone Caldera’s northern edge, a Chicago sized bulge that has reawakened after several quiet years. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) stresses that this kind of deformation is normal for Yellowstone, yet the resemblance to earlier uplift and the subsequent magnitude 4.9 quake has raised understandable questions about what, if anything, might come next.
What the new uplift actually looks like
The latest measurements show that an area along the north rim of the Yellowstone Caldera, just south of Norris Geyser, has begun to rise again after a lull. According to USGS analysis, uplift in this zone started in July 2025 and has now reached about 1.5 centimeters, or a bit less than an inch, a change they describe as a Positive extension of the ground. That 1.5 centimeter rise is concentrated in what scientists call the Norris Uplift Anomaly, a patch of crust that has repeatedly flexed up and down over the past two decades as fluids and heat shift below.
USGS describes this as Uplift along the north rim of Yellowstone Caldera, part of the broader Yellowstone hydrothermal and magmatic system that also feeds Norris Geyser. The change is being tracked by a dense network of instruments, including Continuous and semipermanent GPS receivers that sit on bedrock and record millimeter scale motion, as well as satellite based interferometric synthetic aperture radar that maps deformation across the caldera in detail.
Echoes of the last big Yellowstone quake
The pattern of slow uplift followed by a sharp jolt is familiar at Yellowstone. Earlier uplift episodes around the caldera have been punctuated by earthquakes, including a magnitude 4.9 event that stands as the largest quake in the region since 1980. Reporting on that earlier sequence notes that the uplift “didn’t last” and that the end came “swiftly and dramatically, with a magnitude 4.9 earthquake,” underscoring how quickly stress can be released once the crust has been flexed.
That earlier event unfolded in classic Yellowstone fashion, with uplift in part of the caldera, a build up of shallow stress, and then a sudden rupture that reminded everyone that the system’s hazards are not limited to super eruptions. The same account emphasizes that the 4.9 shock “wasn’t just geological movement,” but also a test of how well scientists and the public understand the park’s normal seismic behavior, a point that resonates as the ground begins to rise again in Yellowstone today.
How scientists are tracking the Chicago sized bulge
To understand what that inch of uplift means, researchers are leaning on a suite of tools that has transformed volcano monitoring since 1980. The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, a partnership of federal and academic groups, uses Ground Deformation Continuous GPS measurements to watch the caldera breathe, comparing current motion with earlier uplift pulses between 2004 and 2010, 2006 and 2009 and 2014 and 2015. These data are folded into regular volcano updates that summarize seismicity, ground motion and changes in geyser activity across the park.
Recent coverage describes how Yellowstone Scientists Monitor sized bulge Along Volcano’s North Rim, a swelling that spans an area comparable to the city of Chicago and rises and falls over distances of a few miles. Those Scientists are not just watching the surface; they are also modeling how magma and hot water move at depths of several kilometers, using the same Continuous and GPS records that captured earlier uplift cycles.
Why USGS says this is normal, not a doomsday signal
For all the attention the inch of uplift has drawn, USGS scientists have been clear that it does not signal an imminent catastrophe. In a recent overview of Yellowstone activity, they frame the Norris Uplift Anomaly as one more example of the caldera’s dynamic nature, a system where the ground routinely rises and falls as fluids shift. A detailed explanation of the current episode notes that uplift along the north rim of Yellowstone Caldera has been observed before, and that the present 1.5 centimeter change is modest compared with earlier cycles.
Independent reporting reinforces that message, stressing that the renewed rise near Norris Geyser is, as one account puts it, “No. Rather, it is another example of Yellowstone’s dynamic nature,” a view attributed to experts with the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. That observatory, described as the group that “monitors the Yellowstone Caldera,” has repeatedly emphasized that the most likely hazards at Yellowstone are moderate earthquakes and hydrothermal explosions, not a super eruption.
Public alarm, social media hype and what to watch next
Even with that scientific context, the idea that Yellowstone’s ground is rising again has ricocheted across social media. A viral clip framed as “BREAKING NEWS” declares that Yellowstone‘s ground is rising and USGS confirmed it, adding that On January 12th, 2026 USGS confirmed that since July 2025 the north rim of the caldera has been pushed up by fluid around 14 km down. That framing captures the drama of a restless supervolcano, but it strips away the nuance that USGS scientists have tried to provide in their more measured Ground Deformation Continuous updates.
Other coverage has tried to bridge that gap, noting that Since July 2025, scientists detected another uplift, about an inch, and that the change prompted them to ask whether it might indicate an impending event or simply another pulse in a long running pattern. One explainer on how Yellowstone’s ground is mysteriously moving again quotes USGS geologist Dan Dzurisin on the Norris Uplift Anomaly’s history, underscoring that this is not the first time the feature has stirred. For now, the key signals to watch are whether uplift accelerates beyond the current 1.5 centimeters, whether earthquake swarms intensify, and how the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, through its regular Positive change reports and broader news updates, characterizes the evolving bulge along the North Rim.
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