QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Columbia Falls, MT

USGS: 4 km SSW of Hungry Horse, Montana

2:35 pm MST, Nov 13, 2020 · · 9.6 km deep · released about 9 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Columbia Falls Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Flathead County 6 kmLake County 78 kmGlacier County 90 kmLincoln County 105 kmSanders County 105 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
2:35 pm MST on 13 November 2020 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) ESE of Columbia Falls, MT · earthquakes near Columbia Falls
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
9.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Flathead County, 6 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Mission fault, 23 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 2149 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) ESE of Columbia Falls, MT, at 2:35 pm MST on 13 November 2020 (21:35 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

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

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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 lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.5 Western Montana · 44 km SSE 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 48.3460, -114.0807. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Flathead County, MT 6 km (4 mi) SSE earthquakes near Flathead County
Lake County, MT 78 km (49 mi) S earthquakes near Lake County
Glacier County, MT 90 km (56 mi) ENE earthquakes near Glacier County
Lincoln County, MT 105 km (65 mi) WNW earthquakes near Lincoln County
Sanders County, MT 105 km (65 mi) SW earthquakes near Sanders County

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

Aftershocks so far

33 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. 1.6 6 km SW of Woods Bay, Montana
  5. 1.7 1 km S of Woods Bay, Montana
  6. 2.1 6 km SW of Woods Bay, Montana
  7. 1.6 6 km SW of Woods Bay, Montana
  8. 1.7 30 km ESE of Martin City, Montana
  9. 2.3 6 km NNE of Olney, Montana
  10. 2.3 10 km NNW of Swan Lake, Montana
  11. 1.7 15 km NNE of Bigfork, Montana
  12. 1.7 5 km ESE of Lakeside, Montana
  13. 1.5 8 km ESE of Woods Bay, Montana
  14. 1.6 3 km NNE of Somers, Montana
  15. 2.0 1 km ENE of Columbia Falls, 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.