Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near West Yellowstone, MT
No earthquake was likely felt in West Yellowstone in the 24 hours to 2:27 pm MST (21:27 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 11 km (7 mi) NNW, at 1:21 am MDT on 8 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near West Yellowstone
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 36 km (22 mi) west-northwest of West Yellowstone, MT, at 1:15 am MST on 27 January 2019 (08:15 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 25 km WNW of Hebgen Lake Estates, Montana
- When
- 1:15 am MST on 27 January 2019 ()
- Where
- 36 km (22 mi) west-northwest of West Yellowstone, MT · earthquakes near West Yellowstone
- Montana today
- every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Madison County, 65 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Madison fault, 3 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 2845 days ago
Earthquake alerts for West Yellowstone, MT
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near West Yellowstone, 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 minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 2 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In West Yellowstone, 36 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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 4.4 on 2017-06-16 — about 12,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.2 The 1959 Hebgen Lake, Montana Earthquake · 24 km E of this epicentre
- 6.5 14 km N of Madison Junction, Wyoming · 49 km E of this epicentre
- 6.1 30 km SSW of Big Sky, Montana · 25 km N of this epicentre
- 5.2 32 km WNW of Hebgen Lake Estates, Montana · 8 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.2 26 km WNW of Hebgen Lake Estates, Montana · 3 km N 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 44.8210, -111.5032. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madison County, MT | 65 km (40 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Madison County |
| Fremont County, ID | 67 km (42 mi) | S | earthquakes near Fremont County |
| Gallatin County, MT | 82 km (51 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Gallatin County |
| Clark County, ID | 90 km (56 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Clark County |
| Park County, MT | 104 km (65 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Park County |
| Beaverhead County, MT | 115 km (71 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Beaverhead County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 42 km NE of Spencer, Idaho
- 1.8 42 km NE of Spencer, Idaho
- 2.0 43 km NE of Spencer, Idaho
- 2.2 42 km NE of Spencer, Idaho
- 1.6 43 km NE of Spencer, Idaho
- 2.7 40 km NNE of Spencer, Idaho
- 1.8 43 km NE of Spencer, Idaho
- 2.8 41 km NNE of Spencer, Idaho
- 1.6 7 km ESE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 2.0 7 km ESE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 1.9 6 km ESE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 1.7 6 km ESE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 1.6 43 km S of Virginia City, Montana
- 2.4 41 km NE of Spencer, Idaho
- 2.9 43 km NE of Spencer, Idaho
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.