QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

Earthquake near Seeley Lake, MT

No earthquake was likely felt in Seeley Lake in the 24 hours to 4:54 pm MST (23:54 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 26 km (16 mi) ESE, at 8:34 pm MDT on 4 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 4 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Seeley Lake

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 41 km (25 mi) southeast of Seeley Lake, MT, at 9:32 am MDT on 21 March 2019 (15:32 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 15 km SSW of Ovando, Montana

9:32 am MDT, Mar 21, 2019 · · 14 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Seeley Lake Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Powell County 19 kmMissoula County 57 kmGranite County 57 kmLewis and Clark County 66 kmDeer Lodge County 87 kmLake County 109 kmRavalli County 114 kmSilver Bow County 116 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
9:32 am MDT on 21 March 2019 ()
Where
41 km (25 mi) southeast of Seeley Lake, MT · earthquakes near Seeley Lake
Montana today
every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 3.1 (ml)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Powell County, 19 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2715 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 39 km (24 mi) from the epicentre. In Seeley Lake, 41 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.

Likely felt in: Lincoln 39 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× 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 5.0 on 2017-07-06 — about 710 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 46.8802, -113.1785. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Powell County, MT 19 km (12 mi) ESE earthquakes near Powell County
Missoula County, MT 57 km (35 mi) WNW earthquakes near Missoula County
Granite County, MT 57 km (35 mi) SSW earthquakes near Granite County
Lewis and Clark County, MT 66 km (41 mi) ENE earthquakes near Lewis and Clark County
Deer Lodge County, MT 87 km (54 mi) S earthquakes near Deer Lodge County
Lake County, MT 109 km (68 mi) NW earthquakes near Lake County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 8 km WNW of Lincoln, Montana
  2. 1.8 6 km W of Drummond, Montana
  3. 2.2 27 km NNW of Lincoln, Montana
  4. 2.4 8 km WSW of Lincoln, Montana
  5. 2.0 11 km WSW of Drummond, Montana
  6. 1.9 5 km W of Lincoln, Montana
  7. 3.0 7 km WNW of Lincoln, Montana
  8. 2.3 25 km ENE of Seeley Lake, Montana
  9. 2.0 17 km ESE of Ovando, Montana
  10. 1.8 22 km ENE of Seeley Lake, Montana
  11. 1.8 15 km W of Drummond, Montana
  12. 1.7 15 km W of Drummond, Montana
  13. 2.0 Western Montana
  14. 1.6 3 km WNW of Lincoln, Montana
  15. 2.8 6 km WNW 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.