QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3ml

Earthquake near Pablo, MT

USGS: 1 km S of Pablo, Montana

4:41 am MST, Jan 28, 2018 · · 9.6 km deep · released about 79 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Pablo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lake County 7 kmMissoula County 64 kmFlathead County 79 kmSanders County 82 kmMineral County 89 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
4:41 am MST on 28 January 2018 ()
Where
in Pablo, MT · earthquakes near Pablo
Magnitude
M 2.3 (ml)
Depth
9.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lake County, 7 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Mission fault, 6 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 3169 days ago

A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded in Pablo, MT, at 4:41 am MST on 28 January 2018 (11:41 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Ronan, Polson.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 79 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 190,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 79 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 47.5837, -114.1160. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lake County, MT 7 km (4 mi) NNE earthquakes near Lake County
Missoula County, MT 64 km (40 mi) SSE earthquakes near Missoula County
Flathead County, MT 79 km (49 mi) N earthquakes near Flathead County
Sanders County, MT 82 km (51 mi) WNW earthquakes near Sanders County
Mineral County, MT 89 km (55 mi) SW earthquakes near Mineral County
Powell County, MT 122 km (76 mi) SE earthquakes near Powell County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 18 km WNW of Dixon, Montana
  2. 3.7 3 km NE of Ravalli, Montana
  3. 1.5 Western Montana
  4. 3.2 2 km ESE of Ravalli, Montana
  5. 2.9 4 km N of Elmo, Montana
  6. 1.7 Western Montana
  7. 2.5 6 km WNW of Bear Dance, Montana
  8. 1.9 1 km W of Charlo, Montana
  9. 1.6 4 km ESE of Rollins, Montana
  10. 2.3 19 km SSE of Swan Lake, Montana
  11. 1.5 11 km WNW of Condon, Montana
  12. 2.5 2 km WSW of Bear Dance, Montana
  13. 1.9 4 km NE of Bear Dance, Montana
  14. 1.8 12 km E of Paradise, Montana
  15. 1.9 11 km SE of Hot Springs, 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.