Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.5ml
Earthquake near Seeley Lake, MT
No earthquake was likely felt in Seeley Lake in the 24 hours to 10:35 am MST (17:35 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 26 km (16 mi) ESE, at 8:34 pm MDT on 4 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 4 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Seeley Lake
This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 28 km (17 mi) east of Seeley Lake, MT, at 1:28 pm MST on 20 February 2020 (20:28 UTC), 20 km deep.
USGS: 18 km N of Ovando, Montana
- When
- 1:28 pm MST on 20 February 2020 ()
- Where
- 28 km (17 mi) east of Seeley Lake, MT · earthquakes near Seeley Lake
- Montana today
- every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 2.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 20 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Powell County, 41 km SSE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2377 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Seeley Lake, MT
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Seeley Lake, 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Seeley Lake, 28 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 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 since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 47.1904, -113.1133. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powell County, MT | 41 km (25 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Powell County |
| Lewis and Clark County, MT | 56 km (35 mi) | E | earthquakes near Lewis and Clark County |
| Missoula County, MT | 62 km (38 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Missoula County |
| Lake County, MT | 89 km (55 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Lake County |
| Granite County, MT | 92 km (57 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Granite County |
| Teton County, MT | 94 km (58 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Teton County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 16 km ESE of Ovando, Montana
- 2.8 17 km ESE of Ovando, Montana
- 1.8 12 km SE of Seeley Lake, Montana
- 2.0 25 km NE of Ovando, Montana
- 1.9 13 km WNW of Ovando, Montana
- 2.7 26 km WSW of Augusta, Montana
- 1.6 5 km SSE of Lincoln, Montana
- 2.0 5 km SSE of Lincoln, Montana
- 2.8 7 km SSE of Lincoln, Montana
- 3.3 6 km SSE of Lincoln, Montana
- 2.3 6 km SSE of Lincoln, Montana
- 1.9 Western Montana
- 2.8 7 km SSE of Lincoln, Montana
- 3.2 6 km SSE of Lincoln, Montana
- 1.8 16 km ESE of Ovando, 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.