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 7:46 am MST (14:46 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 32 km (20 mi) northeast of West Yellowstone, MT, at 7:19 pm MDT on 5 June 2020 (01:19 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 16 km SSW of Mammoth, Wyoming

7:19 pm MDT, Jun 5, 2020 · · 11 km deep · released about 490 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near West Yellowstone Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Park County 72 kmGallatin County 81 kmFremont County 89 kmTeton County 93 kmPark County 102 kmMadison County 104 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
7:19 pm MDT on 5 June 2020 ()
Where
32 km (20 mi) northeast of West Yellowstone, MT · earthquakes near West Yellowstone
Magnitude
M 2.8 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Park County, 72 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Red Canyon fault, 19 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 2276 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 25 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In West Yellowstone, 32 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 490 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 31,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× 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 490 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 210 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.2 The 1959 Hebgen Lake, Montana Earthquake · 33 km W of this epicentre
  2. 6.5 14 km N of Madison Junction, Wyoming · 12 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 22 km SW of Mammoth, Wyoming · 7 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 21 km E of West Yellowstone, Montana · 22 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 26 km SSE of Mammoth, Wyoming · 18 km SE 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 44.8413, -110.7815. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Park County, MT 72 km (45 mi) NNE earthquakes near Park County
Gallatin County, MT 81 km (50 mi) NNW earthquakes near Gallatin County
Fremont County, ID 89 km (55 mi) SW earthquakes near Fremont County
Teton County, WY 93 km (58 mi) SSE earthquakes near Teton County
Park County, WY 102 km (63 mi) ESE earthquakes near Park County
Madison County, MT 104 km (65 mi) WNW earthquakes near Madison County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 20 km SW of Mammoth, Wyoming
  2. 1.6 9 km E of Hebgen Lake Estates, Montana
  3. 3.1 9 km E of Hebgen Lake Estates, Montana
  4. 2.1 9 km E of Hebgen Lake Estates, Montana
  5. 1.9 Wyoming
  6. 1.5 34 km ESE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  7. 1.5 34 km ESE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  8. 1.5 32 km E of West Yellowstone, Montana
  9. 1.8 9 km ENE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  10. 1.7 35 km ESE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  11. 2.2 35 km ESE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  12. 2.0 35 km ESE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  13. 2.0 15 km NE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  14. 1.6 22 km SSW of Mammoth, Wyoming
  15. 1.6 25 km SSE 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.