The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) also states that it is very unlikely that a nuclear blast could trigger an eruption of Yellowstone. The now-dormant volcano has been undisturbed by much greater releases of energy in the form of earthquakes.
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A nuclear detonation in the park could trigger a catastrophic eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano, which could have devastating consequences for the surrounding area.
In a 2015 article he wrote for the Russian state media outlet VPK News, Sivkov said Moscow could counter NATO moving to the borders of Russia by dropping a nuclear weapon near Yellowstone's supervolcano or the San Andreas fault. Geologists believe that the Yellowstone supervolcano could explode at any moment.
Some stats on the Yellowstone supervolcano: A super-eruption would equal the force of 1,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs exploding every second. You could fit Tokyo, the world's biggest city, in Yellowstone's super-volcanic crater.
Based on past research and the general location of the volcano itself, the blast radius of Yellowstone's calderas is quite large. When it comes to lava and magma flows spewing forth from this volcanic eruption, Yellowstone National Park would likely need to evacuate everyone within a 40 to 50 mile radius.
Those parts of the surrounding states of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming that are closest to Yellowstone would be affected by pyroclastic flows, while other places in the United States would be impacted by falling ash (the amount of ash would decrease with distance from the eruption site).
Can we survive a Yellowstone eruption? A massive eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano would spread deadly ash for thousands of miles, killing plant life and affecting humans in its path. Humans who were in its path would surely die, but it would not mean the extinction of the entire human race.
Yellowstone has erupted three times in the last 2.1 million years, the most recent eruption taking place over 600 thousand years ago. A modern-day eruption of Yellowstone would obliterate a unique ecosystem and catastrophically alter the world in which we live.
The Yellowstone supervolcano last erupted about 640,000 years ago. A sleeping giant is nestled in the western part of the United States. Though it stirs occasionally, it has not risen from slumber in nearly 70,000 years.
A: For the most likely type of volcanic eruption in Yellowstone, everywhere would be safe except in the immediate vicinity of the advancing lava flow. In the highly improbable event of a large catastrophic eruption, the great the distance from the eruptive center, the safer it would be.