QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Big Sky, MT

No earthquake was likely felt in Big Sky in the 24 hours to 7:11 am MST (14:11 UTC). The last one was M 3.7, 68 km (42 mi) SE, at 7:22 am MDT on 28 October 2025, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 11 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Big Sky

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 32 km (20 mi) northwest of Big Sky, MT, at 9:13 pm MDT on 5 July 2024 (03:13 UTC), 9.2 km deep.

USGS: 11 km N of Ennis, Montana

57 km (35 mi) WSW of Bozeman, MT

9:13 pm MDT, Jul 5, 2024 · · 9.2 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Big Sky Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Madison County 22 kmGallatin County 43 kmJefferson County 80 kmSilver Bow County 89 kmPark County 91 kmBroadwater County 99 kmBeaverhead County 99 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
9:13 pm MDT on 5 July 2024 ()
Where
32 km (20 mi) northwest of Big Sky, MT · earthquakes near Big Sky
Montana today
every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
9.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Madison County, 22 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Madison fault, 6 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 858 days ago

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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Sky, 32 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 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. 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 4.0 on 2016-09-03 — about 5,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 30 km SSW of Big Sky, Montana · 47 km SSE 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 45.4512, -111.7037. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Madison County, MT 22 km (13 mi) SW earthquakes near Madison County
Gallatin County, MT 43 km (27 mi) E earthquakes near Gallatin County
Jefferson County, MT 80 km (50 mi) NNW earthquakes near Jefferson County
Silver Bow County, MT 89 km (55 mi) NW earthquakes near Silver Bow County
Park County, MT 91 km (57 mi) E earthquakes near Park County
Broadwater County, MT 99 km (62 mi) N earthquakes near Broadwater County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.3 28 km S of Ennis, Montana
  2. 1.2 28 km SSE of Virginia City, Montana
  3. 1.0 8 km SE of Big Sky, Montana
  4. 2.1 15 km ENE of Twin Bridges, Montana
  5. 1.6 15 km S of Whitehall, Montana
  6. 0.5 11 km NNE of Ennis, Montana
  7. 1.4 28 km S of Ennis, Montana
  8. 0.9 29 km S of Ennis, Montana
  9. 1.9 14 km ESE of Harrison, Montana
  10. 2.1 12 km NW of Ennis, Montana
  11. 1.5 13 km NNW of Ennis, Montana
  12. 1.7 17 km ESE of Harrison, Montana
  13. 2.0 2 km NNW of Pony, Montana
  14. 1.9 25 km S of Ennis, Montana
  15. 1.6 34 km SSE of Virginia City, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.