Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Montpelier, ID
No earthquake was likely felt in Montpelier in the 24 hours to 10:20 pm MST (05:20 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 19 km (12 mi) WNW, at 9:59 pm MST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Montpelier
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) west-southwest of Montpelier, ID, at 5:57 pm MST on 23 February 2021 (00:57 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 5 km WSW of Montpelier, Idaho
- When
- 5:57 pm MST on 23 February 2021 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) west-southwest of Montpelier, ID · earthquakes near Montpelier
- Idaho today
- every earthquake in Idaho in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- -2.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Bear Lake County, 4 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Western Bear Lake fault, 2 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 2087 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Montpelier, ID
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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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Montpelier, 5 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.
Likely felt in: Montpelier 5 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 5.3 on 2017-09-02 — about 180,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.8 8 km W of Garden City, Utah · 43 km SSW 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 42.3127, -111.3600. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bear Lake County, ID | 4 km (2 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Bear Lake County |
| Franklin County, ID | 41 km (26 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Franklin County |
| Caribou County, ID | 55 km (34 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Caribou County |
| Lincoln County, WY | 56 km (35 mi) | E | earthquakes near Lincoln County |
| Cache County, UT | 72 km (45 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Cache County |
| Rich County, UT | 77 km (48 mi) | S | earthquakes near Rich County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 20 km NNE of Georgetown, Idaho
- 1.6 20 km WSW of Fairview, Wyoming
- 2.3 20 km WSW of Fairview, Wyoming
- 2.1 2 km S of Grace, Idaho
- 2.6 3 km SE of Grace, Idaho
- 1.7 1 km SE of Grace, Idaho
- 2.2 13 km N of Georgetown, Idaho
- 1.6 12 km ENE of Bennington, Idaho
- 1.6 5 km N of Georgetown, Idaho
- 2.1 6 km NNW of Georgetown, Idaho
- 2.4 18 km SW of Fairview, Wyoming
- 1.7 9 km NNE of Georgetown, Idaho
- 3.0 13 km NNW of Georgetown, Idaho
- 1.8 11 km ESE of Grace, Idaho
- 1.6 2 km NNW of Georgetown, 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
- 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.