Earthquake near Manhattan, MT

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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Manhattan, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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.

Likely felt in: Manhattan 4 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 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 1,300,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 930,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 83× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 4.2 on 2019-08-16 — about 5,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.6 The 1925 Clarkston Valley, Montana Earthquake · 26 km NNW of this epicentre Jun 28, 1925
2. 6.4 Clarkston Valley, Montana (Aftershock) · 26 km NNW of this epicentre Jun 28, 1925
3. 5.5 Clarkston Valley, Montana (Aftershock) · 26 km NNW of this epicentre Jun 28, 1925
4. 5.5 Clarkston Valley, Montana (Aftershock) · 26 km NNW of this epicentre Jun 28, 1925
5. 5.5 Clarkston Valley, Montana (Aftershock) · 26 km NNW of this epicentre Jul 10, 1925

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 45.8625, -111.3773. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.5 3 km NW of Manhattan, Montana 20:36 UTC
2. 1.6 Western Montana 13:23 UTC
3. 2.4 14 km ESE of Harrison, Montana 16:08 UTC
4. 1.5 2 km NW of Manhattan, Montana 12:00 UTC
5. 1.9 14 km SW of Radersburg, Montana 18:08 UTC
6. 2.7 2 km W of Manhattan, Montana 05:53 UTC
7. 1.8 3 km W of Manhattan, Montana 18:33 UTC
8. 1.6 5 km NNW of Logan, Montana 19:58 UTC
9. 1.7 2 km WNW of Manhattan, Montana 01:19 UTC
10. 1.6 7 km NE of Three Forks, Montana 22:54 UTC
11. 2.5 10 km NNE of Toston, Montana 21:57 UTC
12. 2.2 3 km WNW of Manhattan, Montana 04:37 UTC
13. 2.3 2 km SW of Radersburg, Montana 11:43 UTC
14. 1.6 2 km SW of Radersburg, Montana 11:43 UTC
15. 1.6 2 km WSW of Radersburg, Montana 21:52 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 16:11 UTC. 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.