Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Shelby, MT
No earthquake was likely felt in Shelby in the 24 hours to 9:51 am MST (16:51 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 109 km (68 mi) SSE, at 12:41 pm MST on 29 January 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 938 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Shelby
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Shelby, MT, at 11:58 pm MDT on 18 March 2016 (05:58 UTC), 5.0 km deep.
USGS: 4 km ESE of Shelby, Montana
- When
- 11:58 pm MDT on 18 March 2016 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Shelby, MT · earthquakes near Shelby
- Montana today
- every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Toole County, 18 km NNE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3888 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Shelby, MT
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Shelby, MT. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Shelby, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 16 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 970,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 680,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 61× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 48.4927, -111.7960. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toole County, MT | 18 km (11 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Toole County |
| Pondera County, MT | 43 km (27 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Pondera County |
| Liberty County, MT | 56 km (35 mi) | E | earthquakes near Liberty County |
| Teton County, MT | 83 km (52 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Teton County |
| Glacier County, MT | 91 km (57 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Glacier County |
| Chouteau County, MT | 121 km (75 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Chouteau County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
15 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 12 km WSW of Sunburst, Montana
- 1.6 9 km ESE of Cut Bank, Montana
- 1.7 27 km ESE of Shelby, Montana
- 1.8 11 km NNE of Santa Rita, Montana
- 1.7 24 km WSW of Chester, Montana
- 2.3 13 km NNE of Santa Rita, Montana
- 1.6 16 km NNE of Santa Rita, Montana
- 2.3 18 km NNE of Santa Rita, Montana
- 2.0 17 km W of Sunburst, Montana
- 1.8 Eastern Montana
- 2.0 12 km NNE of Santa Rita, Montana
- 2.3 8 km S of Valier, Montana
- 1.9 24 km ESE of Shelby, Montana
- 1.9 26 km ESE of Shelby, Montana
- 2.0 16 km W of Sunburst, Montana
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.