QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.6mwr

22 km N of Spencer, Idaho

Yes. A magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 22 km N of Spencer, Idaho, at 12:57 am MDT on 8 September 2025 (06:57 UTC), 10 km deep.

· 10 km deep · released about 3.8 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Clark County 32 kmFremont County 70 kmBeaverhead County 82 kmJefferson County 85 kmMadison County 88 kmMadison County 97 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
Idaho today
every earthquake in Idaho in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 3.6 (mwr)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Clark County, 32 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Centennial fault, 6 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 343 days ago

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 69 km (43 mi) from the epicentre. 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 3.8 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.8 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 7.9× 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.6 on 2019-04-09 — about 32 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.1 19 km NW of Lima, Montana · 47 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 39 km W of Hebgen Lake Estates, Montana · 46 km ENE 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 44.5629, -112.2270. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Clark County, ID 32 km (20 mi) SSW earthquakes near Clark County
Fremont County, ID 70 km (44 mi) ESE earthquakes near Fremont County
Beaverhead County, MT 82 km (51 mi) NW earthquakes near Beaverhead County
Jefferson County, ID 85 km (53 mi) S earthquakes near Jefferson County
Madison County, MT 88 km (55 mi) NNE earthquakes near Madison County
Madison County, ID 97 km (60 mi) SSE earthquakes near Madison 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. 2.3 49 km NNE of Spencer, Idaho
  2. 1.8 20 km NE of Spencer, Idaho
  3. 2.8 19 km NE of Lima, Montana
  4. 1.8 26 km S of Lima, Montana
  5. 1.8 44 km NE of Spencer, Idaho
  6. 1.7 32 km S of Lima, Montana
  7. 2.6 24 km N of Spencer, Idaho
  8. 1.6 22 km N of Spencer, Idaho
  9. 1.8 47 km NE of Spencer, Idaho
  10. 2.1 2 km SSE of Lima, Montana
  11. 2.4 23 km N of Spencer, Idaho
  12. 1.6 23 km N of Spencer, Idaho
  13. 2.4 22 km N of Spencer, Idaho
  14. 2.4 23 km N of Spencer, Idaho
  15. 2.1 23 km N of Spencer, Idaho

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.