QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.2ml

Earthquake near Bozeman, MT

No earthquake was likely felt in Bozeman in the 24 hours to 12:27 pm MST (19:27 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 17 km (10 mi) NW, at 7:42 am MDT on 1 June 2024, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 20 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Bozeman

This page: a magnitude 1.2 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) south-southeast of Bozeman, MT, at 4:03 am MDT on 14 October 2026 (10:03 UTC), 3.6 km deep.

USGS: 5 km SSE of Bozeman, Montana

7 km (4 mi) SE of Bozeman, MT

4:03 am MDT, Oct 14, 2026 · · 3.6 km deep · released about 1.7 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Gallatin County 18 kmPark County 41 kmMadison County 79 kmSweet Grass County 85 kmBroadwater County 86 kmJefferson County 98 kmMeagher County 106 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
4:03 am MDT on 14 October 2026 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) south-southeast of Bozeman, MT · earthquakes near Bozeman
Montana today
every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.2 (ml)
Depth
3.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Gallatin County, 18 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 26 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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: Four Corners, Belgrade.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 580× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.2 about 1.7 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 4.2 on 2019-08-16 — about 36,000 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 45.6343, -111.0045. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Gallatin County, MT 18 km (11 mi) SW earthquakes near Gallatin County
Park County, MT 41 km (26 mi) ESE earthquakes near Park County
Madison County, MT 79 km (49 mi) WSW earthquakes near Madison County
Sweet Grass County, MT 85 km (53 mi) ENE earthquakes near Sweet Grass County
Broadwater County, MT 86 km (54 mi) NNW earthquakes near Broadwater County
Jefferson County, MT 98 km (61 mi) NW earthquakes near Jefferson County

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

Aftershocks so far

1 earthquake has been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.0 8 km SE of Big Sky, 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.