QuakeIndex

quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

8 km NNE of Three Forks, Montana

· -2.0 km deep · released about 8.1 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Broadwater County 42 kmJefferson County 47 kmGallatin County 55 kmMadison County 77 kmMeagher County 83 kmSilver Bow County 90 kmPark County 92 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 1.6 (ml)
Depth
-2.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Broadwater County, 42 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2657 days ago

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

USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.1 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.1 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 45.9535, -111.4963. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Broadwater County, MT 42 km (26 mi) S of here earthquakes near Broadwater County
Jefferson County, MT 47 km (29 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Jefferson County
Gallatin County, MT 55 km (34 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Gallatin County
Madison County, MT 77 km (48 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Madison County
Meagher County, MT 83 km (52 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Meagher County
Silver Bow County, MT 90 km (56 mi) E of here earthquakes near Silver Bow County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 3 km WNW of Manhattan, Montana
  2. 2.3 3 km WSW of Manhattan, Montana
  3. 1.8 3 km W of Manhattan, Montana
  4. 1.7 2 km WSW of Manhattan, Montana
  5. 1.6 5 km SSW of The Silos, Montana
  6. 1.6 3 km ESE of Logan, Montana
  7. 2.0 3 km WNW of Manhattan, Montana
  8. 2.0 2 km WNW of Manhattan, Montana
  9. 1.9 3 km WNW of Manhattan, Montana
  10. 1.5 3 km WNW of Manhattan, Montana
  11. 1.6 2 km W of Manhattan, Montana
  12. 1.5 2 km W of Manhattan, Montana
  13. 3.0 3 km ESE of Logan, Montana
  14. 1.9 2 km WNW of Manhattan, Montana
  15. 1.6 3 km W of Manhattan, 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.