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The recent earthquake is not a big surprise, since the continental plate of America stops at the Western border of Montana. Washington, Oregon and California are on the Pacific Plate, which rose up to show those states above the water. The reason the western part of Montana is all crunched up into mountains and is mostly comprised of volcanic ash, is the friction between those two plates. Small earthquakes like the one we just had, are actually healthy, because they relieve the tension between the two plates and help prevent major disasters. They are well worth the fallen pictures of walls throughout the state. Even my house here in Red Lodge trembled a bit and it reminded me of my days when I lived in Southern California :-)
Michael Stickney, Director
Earthquake Studies Office
Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology
Montana Tech of the University of Montana
1300 W Park St
Butte, MT 59701
Voice 406/496 4332
Fax 406/496 4451
mstickney@mtech.edu
I had written to him and he said:
" The Red Lodge area lies in a zone relatively low seismic hazard. Over the past two decades we have detected virtually no seismic activity near Red Lodge and know of no active faults nearby. The most likely source of ground shaking would come from larger earthquakes centered in Yellowstone National Park, the Hebgen Lake area, or other parts of western Montana.
I am enclosing a map showing the relative levels of seismic hazard for Montana. Warmer brighter colors indicate higher levels of hazard while cooler darker colors indicate low levels of seismic hazard. As you can see, the seismic hazard decreases rapidly as one moves away from the Yellowstone area.
I hope this information will meet your needs. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact me."
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