Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0ml
Earthquake near West Yellowstone, MT
No earthquake was likely felt in West Yellowstone in the 24 hours to 9:06 am MST (16:06 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 11 km (7 mi) NNW, at 1:21 am MDT on 8 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near West Yellowstone
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) south-southwest of West Yellowstone, MT, at 7:44 am MST on 5 November 2017 (14:44 UTC), 16 km deep.
USGS: Idaho-Montana border region
- When
- 7:44 am MST on 5 November 2017 ()
- Where
- 19 km (12 mi) south-southwest of West Yellowstone, MT · earthquakes near West Yellowstone
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 16 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Fremont County, 39 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Madison fault, 9 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 3292 days ago
Earthquake alerts for West Yellowstone, MT
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near West Yellowstone, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In West Yellowstone, 19 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 31 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 480,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 340,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 31× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 31 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 in our catalogue was M 4.4 on 2017-06-16 — about 3,300 times the energy of this one.
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 44.5140, -111.2318. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fremont County, ID | 39 km (24 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Fremont County |
| Teton County, WY | 82 km (51 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Teton County |
| Teton County, ID | 84 km (52 mi) | S | earthquakes near Teton County |
| Madison County, ID | 88 km (54 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Madison County |
| Clark County, ID | 93 km (58 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Clark County |
| Madison County, MT | 105 km (65 mi) | NNW | 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.
- 2.5 12 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 1.7 12 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 2.6 12 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 1.5 11 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 1.8 12 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 2.6 13 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 2.1 12 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 1.5 Wyoming
- 1.9 11 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 1.8 12 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 2.7 12 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 1.7 12 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 1.8 12 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 1.6 12 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
- 1.6 12 km NE of West Yellowstone, 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.