5.6 Quake in Western Montana

[HeeBGBz]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsUS/Quakes/usazad.htm

How close is that to Yellowstone?

[unhappycamper]

1. Another good site to track earthquakes is the IRIS Seismic Monitor.

Link:
http://www.iris.edu/seismon/

[indepat]

2. Daughter called from Bozeman as the earthquake were occurring

[HeeBGBz]

3. Did she feel it?

Was that near the epicenter?

[indepat]

6. Out of town yesterday. Don't know epicenter, she surely felt it and her

apartment complex is being tested for possible structural damage.

[smirkymonkey]

4. What fault was it on?

My first thought was Yellowstone as well, but earthquakes in Montana seem to be a rare occurance.

[Caution]

7. From the link provided

Montana is one of the most seismically active States in the U.S. Since 1925, the State has experienced five shocks that reached intensity VIII or greater (Modified Mercalli Scale ). During the same interval, hundreds of less severe tremors were felt within the State. Montana's earthquake activity is concentrated mostly in the mountainous western third of the State which lies within a seismic zone that includes western Montana, southeastern Idaho, western Wyoming, and central Utah (see Earthquake History of Montana). There are a variety of fault types represented in this seismic zone. Some faults clearly show evidence of being the source of many large- magnitude earthquakes in the past, and some faults do not. East- central Idaho and western Montana is characterized by long linear mountain ranges with intervening valleys. Geologically young faults bound most or all of these mountain blocks. Many of which are capable of producing large-magnitude earthquakes similar to the largest earthquakes that have occurred historically in the seismic zone (about magnitude 7.5). Seismologists have not yet determined the causative fault of the recent earthquake.

Seems unlikely to have anything to do with Yellowstone.

[Ediacara]

5. This earthquake

Appears to have been south of McCartney Mountain between Butte and Dillon, Montana. There are a lot of Cretaceous aged Thrust faults, as well as more recent Basin and Range related Normal and lateral faults in this region. It's unlikely that this was triggered by anything having anything to do with Yellowstone.