QuakeIndex

mining explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

30 km NE of Ranchester, Wyoming

· 0.0 km deep · released about 1,900 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sheridan County 39 kmBig Horn County 55 kmBig Horn County 107 kmPowder River County 112 kmRosebud County 117 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 3.2 (ml)
Depth
0.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sheridan County, 39 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2164 days ago

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

USGS catalogues this as mining explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,900 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,900 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2× 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.

Where

Epicentre 45.1338, -106.9388. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sheridan County, WY 39 km (25 mi) N of here earthquakes near Sheridan County
Big Horn County, MT 55 km (34 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Big Horn County
Big Horn County, WY 107 km (67 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Big Horn County
Powder River County, MT 112 km (70 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Powder River County
Rosebud County, MT 117 km (73 mi) S of here earthquakes near Rosebud County
Yellowstone County, MT 137 km (85 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Yellowstone 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. 3.0 33 km SW of Birney, Montana
  2. 2.9 32 km SSW of Birney, Montana
  3. 2.9 17 km WSW of Birney, Montana
  4. 2.9 34 km SW of Birney, Montana
  5. 2.9 30 km SW of Birney, Montana
  6. 3.2 31 km WSW of Birney, Montana
  7. 2.6 33 km WSW of Birney, Montana
  8. 3.4 33 km NE of Ranchester, Wyoming
  9. 2.8 35 km WSW of Birney, Montana
  10. 3.2 34 km WSW of Birney, Montana
  11. 2.6 Eastern Montana
  12. 2.5 24 km NNE of Sheridan, Wyoming
  13. 3.5 23 km NNE of Sheridan, Wyoming
  14. 3.1 26 km SW of Birney, Montana
  15. 3.3 Eastern 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

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