Earthquakes cause minor shakes in Happy's Inn area

A 3.4-magnitude earthquake shook the Crystal Lake area Tuesday night. About a dozen weaker aftershocks were recorded Wednesday morning.

The initial earthquake occurred 27 miles southeast of Libby, near Happy’s Inn, at 8:09 p.m. Tuesday. The aftershocks, most measured at 2.3-magnitude, shook the same area Wednesday morning, according to Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency Deputy Lisa Oedewaldt.

Oedewaldt said no calls were made to dispatch reporting the events, but the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office will conduct extra patrols in the area. She stressed no evacuation order was made and the Flower Creek Dam is unharmed.

The quakes and aftershocks are the second shaking episode to strike the Happy’s Inn area in less than two weeks. On May 3, a 2.5-magnitude earthquake was recorded.

Lincoln County Undersheriff Brent Faulkner said the United States Geological Survey does not expect Tuesday’s activity to foreshadow any larger events.

According to the Geological Survey, most of the aftershocks were too weak for people to notice, and calls to patrons of Happy’s Inn confirmed that the shake did not put a dent in anyone’s plans.

While northwest Montana rarely sees significant quakes, a December 1998 earthquake south of Crystal Lake registered at 4.7-magnitude. While the event was widely felt, no damage was reported.

In 1995, from May to June, there were 10 earthquakes recorded in the Kila area with magnitudes ranging from 3.0 to 4.5. Again, no damage was reported, but residents were a bit shaken up.