Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3ml
Earthquake near Bigfork, MT
No earthquake was likely felt in Bigfork in the 24 hours to 12:27 am MST (07:27 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, 8 km (5 mi) SSE, at 5:52 pm MST on 5 December 2024, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Bigfork
This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) east-southeast of Bigfork, MT, at 2:44 am MDT on 5 May 2024 (08:44 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 10 km NNW of Swan Lake, Montana
- When
- 2:44 am MDT on 5 May 2024 ()
- Where
- 15 km (9 mi) east-southeast of Bigfork, MT · earthquakes near Bigfork
- Montana today
- every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Flathead County, 33 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mission fault, 13 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 921 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Bigfork, MT
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Bigfork, 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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Bigfork, 15 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: Lakeside, Somers.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 88 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 170,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 120,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 88 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 · 6 km ESE 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 48.0252, -113.8763. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flathead County, MT | 33 km (20 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Flathead County |
| Lake County, MT | 45 km (28 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Glacier County, MT | 100 km (62 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Glacier County |
| Sanders County, MT | 102 km (63 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Sanders County |
| Missoula County, MT | 111 km (69 mi) | S | earthquakes near Missoula County |
| Teton County, MT | 121 km (75 mi) | E | earthquakes near Teton County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
25 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.2 3 km E of Somers, Montana
- 1.4 4 km NE of Bear Dance, Montana
- 1.8 3 km NE of Bear Dance, Montana
- 1.1 2 km E of Bear Dance, Montana
- -0.0 19 km E of Finley Point, 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
- 2.0 5 km SSW of West Glacier, Montana
- 1.8 12 km NE of Forest Hill Village, 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
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.