Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.7ml
8 km WSW of Elliston, MT
Yes. A magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 8 km WSW of Elliston, MT, at 1:10 pm MST on 25 December 2016 (20:10 UTC), 15 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 15 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Powell County, 46 km NW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3607 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Deer Lodge, MT
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Deer Lodge, 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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Deer Lodge.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 390 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 39,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 28,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.5× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.7 about 390 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.3 on 2016-01-30 — about 240 times the energy of this one.
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 46.5300, -112.5313. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powell County, MT | 46 km (29 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Powell County |
| Jefferson County, MT | 58 km (36 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Lewis and Clark County, MT | 67 km (42 mi) | N | earthquakes near Lewis and Clark County |
| Deer Lodge County, MT | 67 km (42 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Deer Lodge County |
| Granite County, MT | 70 km (44 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Granite County |
| Silver Bow County, MT | 71 km (44 mi) | S | earthquakes near Silver Bow County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 11 km S of Lincoln, Montana
- 2.9 16 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
- 1.9 7 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
- 2.7 Western Montana
- 3.5 7 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
- 2.6 14 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
- 3.6 11 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
- 2.8 13 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
- 2.0 13 km ESE of Lincoln, Montana
- 1.8 13 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
- 2.4 14 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
- 2.4 13 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
- 2.3 7 km SW of Lincoln, Montana
- 2.2 12 km ESE of Lincoln, Montana
- 3.1 Western 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.