QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8ml

Earthquake near West Yellowstone, MT

No earthquake was likely felt in West Yellowstone in the 24 hours to 3:03 pm MST (22:03 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 2.8 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) northeast of West Yellowstone, MT, at 10:43 am MST on 18 February 2018 (17:43 UTC), 7.8 km deep.

USGS: 13 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana

10:43 am MST, Feb 18, 2018 · · 7.8 km deep · released about 510 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near West Yellowstone Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Fremont County 71 kmGallatin County 87 kmPark County 87 kmTeton County 89 kmMadison County 98 kmTeton County 111 kmPark County 113 kmMadison County 119 kmClark County 120 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
10:43 am MST on 18 February 2018 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) northeast of West Yellowstone, MT · earthquakes near West Yellowstone
Montana today
every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 2.8 (ml)
Depth
7.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Fremont County, 71 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Red Canyon fault, 3 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 3103 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 27 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. In West Yellowstone, 13 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: West Yellowstone 13 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 510 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 30,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 21,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 510 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 4.4 on 2017-06-16 — about 200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.2 The 1959 Hebgen Lake, Montana Earthquake · 18 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 14 km N of Madison Junction, Wyoming · 8 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 22 km SW of Mammoth, Wyoming · 12 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 21 km E of West Yellowstone, Montana · 15 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 26 km SSE of Mammoth, Wyoming · 30 km E 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 44.7427, -110.9827. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Fremont County, ID 71 km (44 mi) SW earthquakes near Fremont County
Gallatin County, MT 87 km (54 mi) N earthquakes near Gallatin County
Park County, MT 87 km (54 mi) NNE earthquakes near Park County
Teton County, WY 89 km (55 mi) SSE earthquakes near Teton County
Madison County, MT 98 km (61 mi) NW earthquakes near Madison County
Teton County, ID 111 km (69 mi) S earthquakes near Teton 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. 1.7 13 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  2. 2.3 13 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  3. 1.8 13 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  4. 1.9 13 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  5. 2.6 13 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  6. 2.3 13 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  7. 2.2 13 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  8. 1.5 12 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  9. 1.9 13 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  10. 1.6 10 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  11. 2.2 11 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  12. 1.6 11 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  13. 1.6 11 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  14. 1.5 11 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  15. 1.7 11 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

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