Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0ml
Earthquake near Kalispell, MT
No earthquake was likely felt in Kalispell in the 24 hours to 12:53 am MST (07:53 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 22 km (13 mi) NNW, at 1:53 am MST on 1 March 2021, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Kalispell
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 44 km (27 mi) southeast of Kalispell, MT, at 1:02 pm MST on 9 December 2020 (20:02 UTC), 15 km deep.
USGS: 6 km ESE of Bear Dance, Montana
- When
- 1:02 pm MST on 9 December 2020 ()
- Where
- 44 km (27 mi) southeast of Kalispell, MT · earthquakes near Kalispell
- Montana today
- every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 15 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Lake County, 29 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mission fault, 4 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 2163 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Kalispell, MT
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Kalispell, 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Kalispell, 44 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Bigfork, Lakeside, Polson, Somers.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 27 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 560,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 390,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 35× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 27 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:
- 5.5 Western Montana · 17 km NE 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 47.8862, -113.9540. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake County, MT | 29 km (18 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Flathead County, MT | 46 km (29 mi) | N | earthquakes near Flathead County |
| Sanders County, MT | 93 km (58 mi) | W | earthquakes near Sanders County |
| Missoula County, MT | 96 km (59 mi) | S | earthquakes near Missoula County |
| Glacier County, MT | 116 km (72 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Glacier County |
| Mineral County, MT | 120 km (74 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Mineral 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.
- -0.0 19 km E of Finley Point, Montana
- 0.9 9 km WSW of Condon, Montana
- 2.4 9 km SSW of Bear Dance, Montana
- 1.6 1 km SSW of Dayton, Montana
- 1.8 17 km SSE of Swan Lake, Montana
- 1.8 12 km NE of Forest Hill Village, Montana
- 2.0 15 km ENE of Ronan, Montana
- 1.7 20 km E of Finley Point, Montana
- 1.6 20 km E of Finley Point, Montana
- 1.6 20 km E of Finley Point, Montana
- 2.1 20 km E of Finley Point, Montana
- 1.7 19 km E of Finley Point, Montana
- 1.9 12 km ESE of Evergreen, Montana
- 1.6 16 km NNE of Condon, Montana
- 1.6 6 km SW of Woods Bay, 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
- 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.