Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Butte, MT
No earthquake was likely felt in Butte in the 24 hours to 9:50 am MST (16:50 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 5 km (3 mi) E, at 12:56 pm MST on 9 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Butte
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) east-northeast of Butte, MT, at 4:41 pm MDT on 3 June 2023 (22:41 UTC), 8.1 km deep.
USGS: Western Montana
- When
- 4:41 pm MDT on 3 June 2023 ()
- Where
- 27 km (17 mi) east-northeast of Butte, MT · earthquakes near Butte
- Montana today
- every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Jefferson County, 12 km ENE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1256 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Butte, MT
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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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Butte, 27 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Boulder, Whitehall.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 4.0 on 2016-09-03 — about 6,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.4 Near Butte, Montana · 25 km WSW 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 46.0858, -112.2027. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County, MT | 12 km (7 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Silver Bow County, MT | 41 km (26 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Silver Bow County |
| Broadwater County, MT | 61 km (38 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Broadwater County |
| Deer Lodge County, MT | 72 km (45 mi) | W | earthquakes near Deer Lodge County |
| Madison County, MT | 87 km (54 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Madison County |
| Granite County, MT | 100 km (62 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Granite County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 5 km ENE of Butte, Montana
- 1.7 4 km E of Butte, Montana
- 1.7 4 km E of Butte, Montana
- 1.6 4 km E of Butte, Montana
- 1.9 4 km E of Butte, Montana
- 1.6 Western Montana
- 2.0 5 km ENE of Butte, Montana
- 1.7 4 km E of Butte, Montana
- 1.7 4 km E of Butte, Montana
- 1.7 Western Montana
- 1.7 4 km E of Butte, Montana
- 1.9 4 km E of Butte, Montana
- 2.0 4 km E of Butte, Montana
- 1.7 Western Montana
- 2.4 20 km N of Twin Bridges, 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.