QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

3 km ESE of Big Sky, Montana

· 13 km deep · released about 6.2 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Gallatin County 31 kmMadison County 46 kmPark County 66 kmJefferson County 110 kmFremont County 118 kmBroadwater County 118 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
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Gallatin County, 31 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2904 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.2 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 6.2 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.

Where

Epicentre 45.2708, -111.3342. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Gallatin County, MT 31 km (19 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Gallatin County
Madison County, MT 46 km (28 mi) E of here earthquakes near Madison County
Park County, MT 66 km (41 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Park County
Jefferson County, MT 110 km (69 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Jefferson County
Fremont County, ID 118 km (73 mi) N of here earthquakes near Fremont County
Broadwater County, MT 118 km (74 mi) S of here earthquakes near Broadwater County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 13 km NNW of Ennis, Montana
  2. 2.1 13 km NNW of Ennis, Montana
  3. 2.3 13 km NNW of Ennis, Montana
  4. 2.4 12 km NNW of Ennis, Montana
  5. 1.8 27 km SE of Virginia City, Montana
  6. 2.0 29 km SSE of Virginia City, Montana
  7. 1.6 17 km NNW of Ennis, Montana
  8. 1.6 32 km S of Ennis, Montana
  9. 1.6 23 km WNW of Hebgen Lake Estates, Montana
  10. 2.0 22 km WNW of Hebgen Lake Estates, Montana
  11. 1.5 29 km S of Ennis, Montana
  12. 1.9 22 km WNW of Hebgen Lake Estates, Montana
  13. 1.6 13 km SSE of Pony, Montana
  14. 1.8 33 km S of Ennis, Montana
  15. 1.8 29 km SSE of Virginia 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.