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 32 kmBig Horn County 65 kmPowder River County 108 kmBig Horn County 109 kmJohnson 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
Magnitude
M 3.2 (ml)
Depth
0.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sheridan County, 32 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2122 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 45.0675, -106.8437. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sheridan County, WY 32 km (20 mi) N of here earthquakes near Sheridan County
Big Horn County, MT 65 km (40 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Big Horn County
Powder River County, MT 108 km (67 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Powder River County
Big Horn County, WY 109 km (68 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Big Horn County
Johnson County, WY 116 km (72 mi) N of here earthquakes near Johnson County
Campbell County, WY 143 km (89 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Campbell 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 32 km SW of Birney, Montana
  2. 3.0 33 km SW of Birney, Montana
  3. 2.9 32 km SSW of Birney, Montana
  4. 2.9 17 km WSW of Birney, Montana
  5. 2.9 34 km SW of Birney, Montana
  6. 2.9 30 km SW of Birney, Montana
  7. 3.2 31 km WSW of Birney, Montana
  8. 2.6 33 km WSW of Birney, Montana
  9. 3.4 33 km NE of Ranchester, Wyoming
  10. 2.8 35 km WSW of Birney, Montana
  11. 3.2 34 km WSW of Birney, Montana
  12. 2.6 Eastern Montana
  13. 2.5 24 km NNE of Sheridan, Wyoming
  14. 3.5 23 km NNE of Sheridan, Wyoming
  15. 3.1 26 km SW of Birney, 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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