QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

32 km SW of Silver Gate, Montana

Yes. A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 32 km SW of Silver Gate, Montana, at 10:40 pm MST on 4 March 2026 (05:40 UTC), 9.5 km deep.

· 9.5 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Park County 60 kmPark County 80 kmTeton County 83 kmCarbon County 107 kmGallatin County 110 kmFremont County 117 kmSweet Grass County 117 kmStillwater County 119 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
Montana today
every earthquake in Montana in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
9.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Park County, 60 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Mirror Plateau faults, under 1 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 251 days ago

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 8 km (5 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 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 970,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 86× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 4.2 on 2022-05-11 — about 5,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 22 km SW of Mammoth, Wyoming · 49 km W of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 21 km E of West Yellowstone, Montana · 50 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 26 km SSE of Mammoth, Wyoming · 29 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 13 km SSW of Mammoth, Wyoming · 42 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 25 km SSW of Mammoth, Wyoming · 44 km W 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 44.7790, -110.2392. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Park County, WY 60 km (37 mi) ESE earthquakes near Park County
Park County, MT 80 km (49 mi) NNW earthquakes near Park County
Teton County, WY 83 km (51 mi) S earthquakes near Teton County
Carbon County, MT 107 km (67 mi) ENE earthquakes near Carbon County
Gallatin County, MT 110 km (68 mi) NW earthquakes near Gallatin County
Fremont County, ID 117 km (73 mi) WSW earthquakes near Fremont County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.2 24 km SSE of Mammoth, Wyoming
  2. 1.5 35 km S of Silver Gate, Montana
  3. 1.4 68 km ESE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  4. 0.7 51 km SE of Mammoth, Wyoming
  5. 1.1 35 km ESE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  6. 0.8 33 km ESE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  7. 1.0 30 km ESE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  8. 0.8 29 km ESE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  9. 0.6 29 km ESE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  10. 0.6 29 km ESE of West Yellowstone, Montana
  11. 1.9 35 km S of Silver Gate, Montana
  12. 0.4 40 km SSE of Mammoth, Wyoming
  13. 1.6 34 km E of West Yellowstone, Montana
  14. 1.1 35 km E of West Yellowstone, Montana
  15. 0.7 45 km SE of Mammoth, Wyoming

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.