Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Dillon, MT
No earthquake was likely felt in Dillon in the 24 hours to 9:40 pm MST (04:40 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 14 km (9 mi) N, at 2:45 pm MDT on 7 May 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Dillon
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 46 km (29 mi) southeast of Dillon, MT, at 10:30 am MST on 6 January 2024 (17:30 UTC), 8.7 km deep.
USGS: 42 km S of Alder, Montana
- When
- 10:30 am MST on 6 January 2024 ()
- Where
- 46 km (29 mi) southeast of Dillon, MT · earthquakes near Dillon
- Montana today
- every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Madison County, 47 km NNE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1040 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Dillon, MT
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Dillon, 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Dillon, 46 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.8 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 35,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.2 32 km WNW of Hebgen Lake Estates, Montana · 49 km E of this epicentre
- 5.1 19 km NW of Lima, Montana · 48 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.0 31 km W of Hebgen Lake Estates, Montana · 49 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.0 39 km W of Hebgen Lake Estates, Montana · 48 km SE 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 44.9475, -112.1847. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madison County, MT | 47 km (29 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Madison County |
| Beaverhead County, MT | 59 km (37 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Beaverhead County |
| Clark County, ID | 74 km (46 mi) | S | earthquakes near Clark County |
| Fremont County, ID | 98 km (61 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Fremont County |
| Gallatin County, MT | 102 km (63 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Gallatin County |
| Silver Bow County, MT | 112 km (69 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Silver Bow County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 11 km S of Ennis, Montana
- 1.6 43 km W of Hebgen Lake Estates, Montana
- 1.5 28 km S of Ennis, Montana
- 1.6 31 km NNE of Spencer, Idaho
- 1.6 40 km NE of Spencer, Idaho
- 1.9 31 km SSE of Virginia City, 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
- 1.6 29 km SSE of Virginia City, Montana
- 2.2 41 km NE of Spencer, Idaho
- 1.9 33 km S of Virginia City, Montana
- 1.9 12 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 1.5 28 km SE of Virginia City, Montana
- 1.6 13 km E of Dillon, 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.