QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.3ml

Earthquake near Seeley Lake, MT

USGS: 13 km N of Ovando, Montana

8:34 pm MDT, Oct 4, 2026 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 1.1 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Powell County 35 kmLewis and Clark County 55 kmMissoula County 61 kmGranite County 86 kmLake County 93 kmTeton County 98 kmDeer Lodge County 116 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
8:34 pm MDT on 4 October 2026 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) E of Seeley Lake, MT · earthquakes near Seeley Lake
Magnitude
M 3.3 (ml)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Powell County, 35 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 41 minutes ago

A magnitude 3.3 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) E of Seeley Lake, MT, at 8:34 pm MDT on 4 October 2026 (02:34 UTC). This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.1 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 150,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 6,700× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,700× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.1 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.4× more

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 5.8 on 2017-07-06 — about 6,700 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 47.1368, -113.1080. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Powell County, MT 35 km (22 mi) SSE earthquakes near Powell County
Lewis and Clark County, MT 55 km (34 mi) E earthquakes near Lewis and Clark County
Missoula County, MT 61 km (38 mi) WSW earthquakes near Missoula County
Granite County, MT 86 km (53 mi) SSW earthquakes near Granite County
Lake County, MT 93 km (57 mi) NW earthquakes near Lake County
Teton County, MT 98 km (61 mi) NE earthquakes near Teton County

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

Aftershocks so far

No further earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

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.