Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3ml
Earthquake near Helena Valley Northwest, MT
No earthquake was likely felt in Helena Valley Northwest in the 24 hours to 12:17 am MST (07:17 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 17 km (11 mi) WSW, at 3:32 am MDT on 23 March 2025, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Helena Valley Northwest
This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) north-northeast of Helena Valley Northwest, MT, at 4:13 pm MDT on 20 April 2020 (22:13 UTC), 5.0 km deep.
USGS: 14 km NNE of Helena Valley Northwest, Montana
- When
- 4:13 pm MDT on 20 April 2020 ()
- Where
- 15 km (9 mi) north-northeast of Helena Valley Northwest, MT · earthquakes near Helena Valley Northwest
- Montana today
- every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Lewis and Clark County, 44 km NW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2317 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Helena Valley Northwest, MT
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Helena Valley Northwest, 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 minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Helena Valley Northwest, 15 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: Helena Valley Northeast, Helena Valley West Central, Helena Valley Southeast, Helena, East Helena, Helena West Side.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 85 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.3 on 2016-01-30 — about 1,100 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.1 The 1935 Helena, Montana Earthquakes (Mainshock) · 37 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.9 2 km ENE of Helena, Montana · 27 km S of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1935 Helena, Montana Earthquakes (Largest Aftershock) · 35 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.0 2 km ENE of Helena, Montana · 27 km S 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 46.8444, -111.9642. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis and Clark County, MT | 44 km (28 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Lewis and Clark County |
| Broadwater County, MT | 67 km (42 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Broadwater County |
| Cascade County, MT | 70 km (44 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Cascade County |
| Powell County, MT | 74 km (46 mi) | W | earthquakes near Powell County |
| Jefferson County, MT | 80 km (50 mi) | S | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Meagher County, MT | 85 km (53 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Meagher County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 Western Montana
- 1.6 12 km E of Lincoln, Montana
- 1.8 16 km E of Lincoln, Montana
- 1.5 12 km E of Lincoln, Montana
- 2.4 15 km ESE of Lincoln, Montana
- 1.7 10 km N of Elliston, Montana
- 1.6 2 km E of South Hills, Montana
- 1.6 2 km E of South Hills, Montana
- 1.8 31 km ENE of Helena Valley Northeast, Montana
- 1.9 30 km ENE of Helena Valley Northeast, Montana
- 1.8 8 km SSE of Marysville, Montana
- 1.6 3 km SW of Helena Valley Northwest, Montana
- 1.6 1 km SSE of South Hills, Montana
- 1.6 1 km SSE of South Hills, Montana
- 1.5 15 km ESE of Lincoln, 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.