Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0ml
Earthquake near Bigfork, MT
No earthquake was likely felt in Bigfork in the 24 hours to 1:18 pm MST (20:18 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, 8 km (5 mi) SSE, at 5:52 pm MST on 5 December 2024, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Bigfork
This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) northwest of Bigfork, MT, at 6:44 pm MST on 21 January 2018 (01:44 UTC), 10 km deep. 45 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 5 km NW of Bigfork, Montana
- When
- 6:44 pm MST on 21 January 2018 ()
- Where
- 6 km (4 mi) northwest of Bigfork, MT · earthquakes near Bigfork
- Montana today
- every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- 45 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Flathead County, 22 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mission fault, 1 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 1607 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Bigfork, MT
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Bigfork, MT. No account or email needed.
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 35 km (22 mi) from the epicentre. In Bigfork, 6 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Kalispell 17 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.5 Western Montana · 27 km ESE 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 48.0996, -114.1276. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flathead County, MT | 22 km (14 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Flathead County |
| Lake County, MT | 51 km (32 mi) | S | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Sanders County, MT | 87 km (54 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Sanders County |
| Glacier County, MT | 108 km (67 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Glacier County |
| Lincoln County, MT | 111 km (69 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Lincoln County |
| Missoula County, MT | 121 km (75 mi) | S | earthquakes near Missoula 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.
- 1.6 3 km NNE of Somers, Montana
- 2.0 1 km ENE of Columbia Falls, Montana
- 1.6 Western Montana
- 2.1 8 km NNW of Bigfork, Montana
- 1.7 11 km NW of Batavia, Montana
- 2.9 4 km N of Elmo, Montana
- 1.7 Western Montana
- 1.6 12 km NNW of Batavia, Montana
- 2.5 6 km WNW of Bear Dance, Montana
- 1.6 4 km ESE of Rollins, Montana
- 2.3 19 km SSE of Swan Lake, Montana
- 2.1 16 km NNE of Swan Lake, Montana
- 2.1 10 km SW of Whitefish, Montana
- 1.7 3 km E of Forest Hill Village, Montana
- 1.6 13 km E of Martin City, 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.