5.8 magnitude earthquake rattles western Montana; no one hurt

If your house shook the morning of July 6, you were not alone. A 5.8 magnitude earthquake happened about 6 miles south-southeast of Lincoln at about 12:30 a.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The temblor was felt as far away as Canada, but most reports came from populated areas east of the Divide like Helena.

An aftershock followed about five minutes later with a magnitude of 4.9, the USGS noted.

There were 16 aftershocks within 24 hours.

While the quake gently rocked homes in Columbia Falls, it was more robust in Lincoln, Lisa Large, a bartender at the Wheel Inn Tavern in Lincoln, said the power went out and bottles flew off the shelves when the earthquake hit, the Missoulian reported.

The quake was felt as far east as Billings.

It also shook Glacier Park.

“Good shake at Park HQ,” the Park tweeted out shortly after the quake.

Near the epicenter, eight patrons at the Wilderness Bar in Lincoln headed for the doors as stools and glass bottles started falling over.

“I just jumped over the bar and pretty much landed in a guy’s lap,” bartender Sheri Deluca told the Great Falls Tribune.

Large said the power went out and bottles flew off the shelves.

“It slopped all the grease outta the fryer,” she told the Missoulian. “The kitchen’s a mess right now.”

NorthWestern Energy said the quake triggered a power outage in the Lincoln area that affected about 1,350 NorthWestern customers. The outage was reported at 12:30 a.m., the same time as the earthquake hit. Power was restored to the Lincoln area about 1:15 a.m. Inspections at a substation about 6 miles east of Lincoln revealed no damage to the substation. The quake caused no known damage to the utility’s electric and natural-gas system.

NorthWestern also fielded a few calls from the Helena area reporting natural-gas odors shortly after the quake, but investigation found no damage to the natural-gas system.

Emergency officials in the Lincoln area are urging residents to inspect their homes and other property for possible damage caused by the earthquake, including pipes, water heaters and furnace exhaust systems.

At Polson, Energy Keepers Inc. reported no damage at the SKQ dam following the quake. Personnel was on site conducting an inspection of the infrastructure Thursday morning.

Dennis Philmon at the Hungry Horse Dam also reported no damage to the structure on the Hungry Horse Reservoir. He said the magnitude and distance from the epicenter didn’t reach the levels that would require an inspection.

“That’s a good thing,” he said.

There have been more than 70 quakes measuring larger than 4.5 in Montana and parts of Wyoming and Idaho since 1925, according to the USGS. The largest quake in Montana history was magnitude 7.3 near West Yellowstone in 1959.

When earthquakes occur, Flathead 911 encourages people to report any injuries or damage by calling 911.

However, if people simply wish to report that an earthquake occurred or are only looking for information, it is requested that they call non-emergency lines or check the U.S. Geological Survey website at www.earthquake.usgs.gov.

Earthquakes are not uncommon in Montana or the Flathead Valley for that matter.

The last local quake was in April of 2015 when a 3.6 magnitude quake was centered about two miles south-southeast of Somers at a depth of about 4.4 miles underground.