Mother Nature tested the versatility of area residents July 5 and 6. Within a 24 hour period, heat in the mid-90s, humidity barely above single digits, a red-flag warning, thunder, lighting, hail, winds described by some as a microburst and the largest Montana earthquake in decades passed through.
Jefferson County residents were awakened by the earthquake, which struck at 12:30 a.m. Thursday. Although it was one of the largest in the state in more than 50 years, no injures were reported and damage was minimal. Groceries were knocked off the shelves in Lincoln, about eight miles from the epicenter, bricks were shaken from a building in Butte, and other minor damage was reported.
According to the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology earthquake tracking center, the 5.8 magnitude quake was centered eight miles southeast of Lincoln, just north of Stemple Pass Road, at a depth of 9.6 miles. Aftershocks have continued for days, with the largest as of Monday evening measuring 4.9 shortly after the main quake and a 4.5 hitting at 1:02 a.m. The shaking was still continuing Saturday, July 8, with tremors of 4.1, 2.6, 3.5 and 2.8 all recorded in the morning hours Saturday.
