QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4ml

Earthquake near Lincoln, MT

USGS: 12 km ESE of Lincoln, Montana

10:59 am MST, Feb 24, 2017 · · 11 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Lincoln Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lewis and Clark County 28 kmPowell County 30 kmGranite County 87 kmJefferson County 93 kmDeer Lodge County 100 kmBroadwater County 101 kmCascade County 102 kmMissoula County 104 kmTeton County 105 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
10:59 am MST on 24 February 2017 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) ESE of Lincoln, MT · earthquakes near Lincoln
Magnitude
M 2.4 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lewis and Clark County, 28 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3507 days ago

A magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) ESE of Lincoln, MT, at 10:59 am MST on 24 February 2017 (17:59 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 92,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 8.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 since 2016 was M 4.3 on 2016-01-30 — about 810 times the energy of this one.

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 46.8912, -112.5403. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lewis and Clark County, MT 28 km (18 mi) NNE earthquakes near Lewis and Clark County
Powell County, MT 30 km (19 mi) W earthquakes near Powell County
Granite County, MT 87 km (54 mi) SW earthquakes near Granite County
Jefferson County, MT 93 km (58 mi) SSE earthquakes near Jefferson County
Deer Lodge County, MT 100 km (62 mi) SSW earthquakes near Deer Lodge County
Broadwater County, MT 101 km (63 mi) SE earthquakes near Broadwater 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.

  1. 2.9 12 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  2. 3.0 13 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  3. 2.4 11 km S of Lincoln, Montana
  4. 2.9 16 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  5. 1.9 7 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  6. 2.7 Western Montana
  7. 3.5 7 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  8. 2.6 14 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  9. 3.6 11 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  10. 2.8 13 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  11. 2.0 13 km ESE of Lincoln, Montana
  12. 1.8 13 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  13. 2.4 14 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  14. 2.4 13 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  15. 2.3 7 km SW of Lincoln, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.