Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.1ml
36 km SW of Lima, Montana
Yes. A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 36 km SW of Lima, Montana, at 1:00 pm MST on 31 January 2016 (20:00 UTC), 4.7 km deep.
- When
- Montana today
- every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 3.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Clark County, 46 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Beaverhead fault, 8 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 3864 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Dillon, MT
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 42 km (26 mi) from the epicentre. 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 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.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
- 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.1 19 km NW of Lima, Montana · 43 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.1 22 km NW of Lima, Montana · 44 km NNE 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 44.4004, -112.9167. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clark County, ID | 46 km (29 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Clark County |
| Beaverhead County, MT | 82 km (51 mi) | N | earthquakes near Beaverhead County |
| Butte County, ID | 82 km (51 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Butte County |
| Jefferson County, ID | 82 km (51 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Lemhi County, ID | 97 km (60 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Lemhi County |
| Custer County, ID | 107 km (67 mi) | W | earthquakes near Custer County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 Idaho-Montana border region
- 1.6 32 km ENE of Leadore, Idaho
- 1.6 10 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 2.4 10 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 2.3 10 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 3.0 10 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 2.2 10 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 2.4 2 km E of Lima, Montana
- 2.3 10 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 2.0 11 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 1.9 9 km ENE of Lima, Montana
- 2.0 11 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 2.3 11 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 2.2 10 km NE of Lima, Montana
- 2.4 10 km NE of Lima, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.