Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.2ml
Earthquake near Dillon, MT
No earthquake was likely felt in Dillon in the 24 hours to 6:04 pm MST (01:04 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 14 km (9 mi) N, at 2:45 pm MDT on 7 May 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Dillon
This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 49 km (30 mi) south-southwest of Dillon, MT, at 11:40 am MDT on 12 May 2016 (17:40 UTC), 8.5 km deep.
USGS: 21 km NW of Lima, Montana
- When
- 11:40 am MDT on 12 May 2016 ()
- Where
- 49 km (30 mi) south-southwest of Dillon, MT · earthquakes near Dillon
- Montana today
- every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 3.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Beaverhead County, 40 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Red Rock fault, 4 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1608 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Dillon, MT
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Dillon, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 46 km (29 mi) from the epicentre. In Dillon, 49 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 2,000 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 170,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,700× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,400× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.2 about 2,000 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.1× more
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 lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.1 19 km NW of Lima, Montana · 2 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.1 22 km NW of Lima, Montana · 2 km W of this epicentre
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 44.7857, -112.7585. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beaverhead County, MT | 40 km (25 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Beaverhead County |
| Clark County, ID | 64 km (40 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Clark County |
| Madison County, MT | 89 km (56 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Madison County |
| Lemhi County, ID | 90 km (56 mi) | W | earthquakes near Lemhi County |
| Jefferson County, ID | 115 km (72 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Fremont County, ID | 119 km (74 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Fremont County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 28 km WSW of Dillon, Montana
- 1.5 32 km SW of Lima, Montana
- 2.1 26 km SSW of Lima, Montana
- 2.3 33 km WNW of Lima, Montana
- 2.4 22 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 1.6 30 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 1.5 30 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 3.5 27 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 1.8 19 km W of Lima, Montana
- 1.7 22 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 2.1 9 km SSE of Lima, Montana
- 2.2 24 km NNE of Lima, Montana
- 2.2 5 km NNE of Lima, Montana
- 2.3 32 km S of Lima, Montana
- 1.6 30 km NNW of Lima, 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.