QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

3 km S of Columbia Falls, Montana

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

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Flathead County 12 kmLake County 79 kmLincoln County 97 kmGlacier County 97 kmSanders County 99 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
10 km below the surface
Felt
36 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Flathead County, 12 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2052 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 36 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

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 48.3456, -114.1895. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Flathead County, MT 12 km (7 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Flathead County
Lake County, MT 79 km (49 mi) N of here earthquakes near Lake County
Lincoln County, MT 97 km (60 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Lincoln County
Glacier County, MT 97 km (60 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Glacier County
Sanders County, MT 99 km (61 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Sanders County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

34 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.0 5 km SSW of West Glacier, Montana
  2. 1.8 12 km NE of Forest Hill Village, Montana
  3. 1.9 12 km ESE of Evergreen, Montana
  4. 1.6 6 km SW of Woods Bay, Montana
  5. 1.7 1 km S of Woods Bay, Montana
  6. 2.1 6 km SW of Woods Bay, Montana
  7. 1.6 6 km SW of Woods Bay, Montana
  8. 2.2 7 km WNW of Lake Mary Ronan, Montana
  9. 1.7 7 km WNW of Lake Mary Ronan, Montana
  10. 1.8 6 km WNW of Lake Mary Ronan, Montana
  11. 1.7 30 km ESE of Martin City, Montana
  12. 2.3 6 km NNE of Olney, Montana
  13. 2.3 10 km NNW of Swan Lake, Montana
  14. 1.7 15 km NNE of Bigfork, Montana
  15. 1.7 5 km ESE of Lakeside, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.