QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Evergreen, MT

USGS: 3 km W of Evergreen, Montana

7:38 am MDT, Aug 31, 2017 · · 9.0 km deep · released about 13 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Flathead County 21 kmLake County 67 kmSanders County 83 kmLincoln County 92 kmGlacier County 111 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
7:38 am MDT on 31 August 2017 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) W of Evergreen, MT · earthquakes near Evergreen
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
9.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Flathead County, 21 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Mission fault, 8 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 3320 days ago

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) W of Evergreen, MT, at 7:38 am MDT on 31 August 2017 (13:38 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Kalispell, Somers, Columbia Falls, Whitefish, Lakeside, Bigfork.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 13 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 75× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.5 Western Montana · 46 km ESE 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 48.2243, -114.3172. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Flathead County, MT 21 km (13 mi) ENE earthquakes near Flathead County
Lake County, MT 67 km (42 mi) SSE earthquakes near Lake County
Sanders County, MT 83 km (51 mi) SW earthquakes near Sanders County
Lincoln County, MT 92 km (57 mi) WNW earthquakes near Lincoln County
Glacier County, MT 111 km (69 mi) ENE earthquakes near Glacier County
Shoshone County, ID 152 km (95 mi) SW earthquakes near Shoshone County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.5 8 km ESE of Woods Bay, Montana
  2. 1.6 3 km NNE of Somers, Montana
  3. 2.0 1 km ENE of Columbia Falls, Montana
  4. 1.6 Western Montana
  5. 2.1 8 km NNW of Bigfork, Montana
  6. 1.7 11 km NW of Batavia, Montana
  7. 2.9 4 km N of Elmo, Montana
  8. 1.6 12 km NNW of Batavia, Montana
  9. 2.5 6 km WNW of Bear Dance, Montana
  10. 1.6 4 km ESE of Rollins, Montana
  11. 1.6 13 km WNW of Marion, Montana
  12. 2.1 16 km NNE of Swan Lake, Montana
  13. 2.1 10 km SW of Whitefish, Montana
  14. 1.7 3 km E of Forest Hill Village, Montana
  15. 1.6 13 km E of Martin City, 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.