3.9 Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Dillon Residents

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Earthquake Hazard Response website received over 40 responses yesterday after an earthquake shook southwestern Montana.

"At 6:51 a.m., a magnitude 3.9 earthquake occurred about ten miles north of the town of Dillon," said Director of the Earthquake Studies office at the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Mike Stickney. "Apparently a number of residents reported shaking as far north as Anaconda, as East as Ennis and as far West as Salmon, Idaho."

No reports of damage have come in after the quake.

"A magnitude 3.9 would be below the threshold that you would normally expect any kind of damage," Stickny said. "So, I can image that somebody living close to the epicenter might have experienced a few nicknacks rattling off the table or the shelf, but no significant damage."

Stickney said Montana will experience anywhere between 12 and 20 earthquakes of this magnitude in a typical year.