QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Whitefish, MT

USGS: Western Montana

6:14 pm MDT, Jun 8, 2019 · · 9.4 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Flathead County 30 kmLincoln County 78 kmLake County 87 kmSanders County 90 kmGlacier County 112 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
6:14 pm MDT on 8 June 2019 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) WSW of Whitefish, MT · earthquakes near Whitefish
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
9.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Flathead County, 30 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2672 days ago

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) WSW of Whitefish, MT, at 6:14 pm MDT on 8 June 2019 (00:14 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Columbia Falls, Evergreen, Kalispell.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 92× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 48.3897, -114.4297. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Flathead County, MT 30 km (19 mi) ESE earthquakes near Flathead County
Lincoln County, MT 78 km (49 mi) WNW earthquakes near Lincoln County
Lake County, MT 87 km (54 mi) SSE earthquakes near Lake County
Sanders County, MT 90 km (56 mi) SW earthquakes near Sanders County
Glacier County, MT 112 km (69 mi) ENE earthquakes near Glacier County
Shoshone County, ID 159 km (99 mi) SW earthquakes near Shoshone County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 5 km SSW of West Glacier, Montana
  2. 1.8 12 km NE of Forest Hill Village, Montana
  3. 1.9 12 km ESE of Evergreen, Montana
  4. 2.2 7 km WNW of Lake Mary Ronan, Montana
  5. 1.7 7 km WNW of Lake Mary Ronan, Montana
  6. 1.8 6 km WNW of Lake Mary Ronan, Montana
  7. 2.3 6 km NNE of Olney, Montana
  8. 1.7 15 km NNE of Bigfork, Montana
  9. 1.7 5 km ESE of Lakeside, Montana
  10. 1.6 3 km NNE of Somers, Montana
  11. 2.0 1 km ENE of Columbia Falls, Montana
  12. 1.6 Western Montana
  13. 2.1 8 km NNW of Bigfork, Montana
  14. 1.7 11 km NW of Batavia, Montana
  15. 2.2 16 km ENE of Happys Inn, 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.