QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8ml

3 km SW of Olney, Montana

· 10 km deep · released about 480 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Flathead County 49 kmLincoln County 63 kmSanders County 96 kmLake 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
Magnitude
M 2.8 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Flathead County, 49 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3204 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 480 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 480 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.

Where

Epicentre 48.5314, -114.6138. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Flathead County, MT 49 km (30 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Flathead County
Lincoln County, MT 63 km (39 mi) E of here earthquakes near Lincoln County
Sanders County, MT 96 km (60 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Sanders County
Lake County, MT 106 km (66 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Lake County
Glacier County, MT 121 km (75 mi) W of here earthquakes near Glacier County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 6 km NNE of Olney, Montana
  2. 2.0 1 km ENE of Columbia Falls, Montana
  3. 1.6 Western Montana
  4. 2.2 19 km E of Indian Springs, Montana
  5. 1.7 11 km NW of Batavia, Montana
  6. 2.2 16 km ENE of Happys Inn, Montana
  7. 1.6 12 km NNW of Batavia, Montana
  8. 1.6 13 km WNW of Marion, Montana
  9. 1.7 18 km NW of Marion, Montana
  10. 2.1 10 km SW of Whitefish, Montana
  11. 1.9 3 km NNW of Coram, Montana
  12. 1.6 10 km SSW of Whitefish, Montana
  13. 2.6 7 km WSW of Whitefish, Montana
  14. 3.2 19 km ENE of Stryker, Montana
  15. 2.1 4 km WSW of Whitefish, 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.