mining explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0ml
Earthquake near Gillette, WY
No earthquake was likely felt in Gillette in the 24 hours to 3:45 pm MST (22:45 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 45 km (28 mi) SSE, at 2:13 pm MDT on 6 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Gillette
No: USGS classifies this as a mining explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 3.0 mining explosion was recorded 34 km (21 mi) south of Gillette, WY, at 1:31 pm MST on 6 February 2020 (20:31 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: Wyoming
- When
- 1:31 pm MST on 6 February 2020 ()
- Where
- 34 km (21 mi) south of Gillette, WY · earthquakes near Gillette
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Campbell County, 24 km NNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2391 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Gillette, WY
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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 37 km (23 mi) from the epicentre. In Gillette, 34 km away, the estimate is intensity II (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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Wright, Antelope Valley-Crestview, Sleepy Hollow.
USGS catalogues this as mining explosion, not an earthquake.
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:
- 5.0 37 km W of Gillette, Wyoming · 50 km WNW 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 43.9847, -105.4449. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campbell County, WY | 24 km (15 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Campbell County |
| Weston County, WY | 72 km (45 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Weston County |
| Johnson County, WY | 92 km (57 mi) | W | earthquakes near Johnson County |
| Crook County, WY | 97 km (60 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Crook County |
| Converse County, WY | 111 km (69 mi) | S | earthquakes near Converse County |
| Niobrara County, WY | 129 km (80 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Niobrara County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.5 24 km SSE of Wright, Wyoming
- 3.2 26 km SSE of Wright, Wyoming
- 3.2 19 km SE of Wright, Wyoming
- 3.2 29 km SE of Wright, Wyoming
- 2.9 20 km SSE of Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming
- 3.4 13 km SE of Wright, Wyoming
- 3.4 10 km NE of Wright, Wyoming
- 3.6 15 km ESE of Wright, Wyoming
- 2.6 17 km SSE of Wright, Wyoming
- 2.5 7 km NE of Gillette, Wyoming
- 3.4 24 km ESE of Wright, Wyoming
- 3.2 22 km ESE of Wright, Wyoming
- 2.9 14 km SSE of Wright, Wyoming
- 3.4 30 km ESE of Wright, Wyoming
- 3.2 22 km NNE of Wright, Wyoming
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.