Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Whitehall, MT
No earthquake was likely felt in Whitehall in the 24 hours to 2:55 pm MST (21:55 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 21 km (13 mi) SW, at 3:27 am MDT on 25 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Whitehall
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) southeast of Whitehall, MT, at 10:05 pm MST on 8 February 2024 (05:05 UTC), 7.4 km deep.
USGS: 11 km NNW of Pony, Montana
- When
- 10:05 pm MST on 8 February 2024 ()
- Where
- 17 km (11 mi) southeast of Whitehall, MT · earthquakes near Whitehall
- Montana today
- every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Jefferson County, 43 km N
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1006 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Whitehall, MT
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Whitehall, 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Whitehall, 17 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.
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 4.0 on 2016-09-03 — about 4,900 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 45.7475, -111.9630. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County, MT | 43 km (26 mi) | N | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Madison County, MT | 47 km (29 mi) | S | earthquakes near Madison County |
| Silver Bow County, MT | 56 km (35 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Silver Bow County |
| Gallatin County, MT | 67 km (42 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Gallatin County |
| Broadwater County, MT | 74 km (46 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Broadwater County |
| Deer Lodge County, MT | 99 km (62 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Deer Lodge County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 4 km E of Butte, Montana
- 1.5 18 km W of Pony, Montana
- 2.5 13 km SSE of Harrison, Montana
- 1.7 4 km E of Butte, Montana
- 1.7 4 km E of Butte, Montana
- 2.8 0 km NW of Cardwell, Montana
- 1.8 5 km ENE of Butte, Montana
- 1.9 4 km E of Butte, Montana
- 2.4 2 km E of Three Forks, Montana
- 1.6 5 km ENE of Butte, Montana
- 1.7 6 km ENE of Butte, Montana
- 1.5 11 km N of Ennis, Montana
- 1.8 5 km E of Butte, Montana
- 1.6 4 km E of Butte, Montana
- 1.8 4 km E of Butte, 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.