Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
2 km S of Lima, Montana
Yes. A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 2 km S of Lima, Montana, at 2:54 pm MDT on 20 August 2023 (20:54 UTC), 8.2 km deep.
- When
- Montana today
- every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Clark County, 41 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Red Rock fault, 2 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 1178 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Dillon, 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. 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.7 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 2,600,000× 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 5.7 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 4.6 on 2019-04-09 — about 42,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.1 19 km NW of Lima, Montana · 21 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.1 22 km NW of Lima, Montana · 25 km NW 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 44.6145, -112.5905. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clark County, ID | 41 km (25 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Clark County |
| Beaverhead County, MT | 62 km (39 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Beaverhead County |
| Jefferson County, ID | 93 km (58 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Madison County, MT | 95 km (59 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Madison County |
| Fremont County, ID | 98 km (61 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Fremont County |
| Lemhi County, ID | 108 km (67 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Lemhi County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 2 km SE of Lima, Montana
- 1.5 11 km SE of Lima, Montana
- 1.6 11 km SE of Lima, Montana
- 1.9 11 km SE of Lima, Montana
- 1.8 11 km SE of Lima, Montana
- 1.7 10 km SE of Lima, Montana
- 2.6 9 km SE of Lima, Montana
- 1.7 25 km E of Leadore, Idaho
- 1.9 12 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 1.5 12 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 1.7 31 km NW of Lima, Montana
- 2.0 22 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 2.3 22 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 1.6 21 km NNW of Lima, Montana
- 1.8 35 km SSW of Lima, 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.