QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.3ml

Earthquake near Lincoln, MT

USGS: 11 km ESE of Lincoln, Montana

12:54 am MDT, Jul 6, 2017 · · 8.1 km deep · released about 1.3 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lewis and Clark County 28 kmPowell County 30 kmGranite County 88 kmJefferson County 94 kmDeer Lodge County 101 kmCascade County 102 kmBroadwater County 102 kmMissoula County 103 kmTeton County 104 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
12:54 am MDT on 6 July 2017 ()
Where
12 km (7 mi) ESE of Lincoln, MT · earthquakes near Lincoln
Magnitude
M 3.3 (ml)
Depth
8.1 km below the surface
Felt
6 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Lewis and Clark County, 28 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1567 days ago

A magnitude 3.3 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) ESE of Lincoln, MT, at 12:54 am MDT on 6 July 2017 (06:54 UTC). 6 people have reported feeling it to USGS. 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 1.3 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 6.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 5,600× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.3 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.8× 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 5,600 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 46.9018, -112.5487. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lewis and Clark County, MT 28 km (17 mi) NNE earthquakes near Lewis and Clark County
Powell County, MT 30 km (18 mi) WSW earthquakes near Powell County
Granite County, MT 88 km (54 mi) SW earthquakes near Granite County
Jefferson County, MT 94 km (59 mi) SSE earthquakes near Jefferson County
Deer Lodge County, MT 101 km (62 mi) SSW earthquakes near Deer Lodge County
Cascade County, MT 102 km (63 mi) ENE earthquakes near Cascade County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 13 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  2. 2.4 13 km ESE of Lincoln, Montana
  3. 3.3 14 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  4. 3.0 14 km WSW of Lincoln, Montana
  5. 2.2 17 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  6. 2.5 9 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  7. 2.0 12 km ESE of Lincoln, Montana
  8. 3.1 14 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  9. 2.6 16 km SSE of Lincoln, Montana
  10. 2.0 14 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  11. 3.0 13 km ESE of Lincoln, Montana
  12. 2.3 13 km ESE of Lincoln, Montana
  13. 2.3 15 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  14. 2.4 15 km SE of Lincoln, Montana
  15. 2.6 14 km SE of Lincoln, 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.