Earthquake Shakes Southwest Montana

Although we didn’t feel it here, a pair of earthquakes shook an area of Montana about 200 miles west of Cody yesterday.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, two earthquakes struck near Lima, Montana within minutes of each other Tuesday. Lima is about 90 miles west of West Yellowstone.

At 12:08 p.m., a 4.4-magnitude quake struck almost four miles northeast of Lima. Minutes later, at 12:11 p.m., a 3.5-magnitude earthquake struck almost seven miles northeast of the town. Experts estimate the depth of the quakes, along the Centennial Tectonic Belt, to be about 6 and half miles under the surface.

Mike Stickney, director of the earthquake studies office at the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, told KTVQ that some items were knocked from walls in the Lima area, and reports of a loud boom accompanied the quake. And despite the small magnitude, the quake was felt as far away as Butte.

Stickney says he expected small aftershocks to continue for the next several days. He adds that that particular fault line hasn’t experienced a quake since 1983, when a 6.9 magnitude quake resulted in two fatalities in Challis, Idaho.