Seeley Lake experiences 3.9-magnitude quake Friday morning

The U.S. Geological Survey registered the quake’s epicenter 14 miles northeast of Seeley Lake at about 4:45 a.m.

Vincent Chappell had just poured a cup of coffee and sat on the couch when he heard what sounded like a huge semi-truck with a large load coming down the highway through town.

“Next thing I know, the walls are shaking,” he said Friday. “It rattled the house for 10 seconds, maybe. Nothing major.”

The rumble woke his wife in the next room, but didn’t raise any alarm in the Chappell household. After the house quit dancing, Chappell could hear that semi-truck sound hauling away and into the hills.

“It was kind of different, kind of entertaining,” Chappell said with a chuckle.

Chappell is also the Seeley Lake Water District manager, and his thoughts turned to the area’s utilities after the jiggling subsided. Typically after an earthquake staff at the water district will monitor charts and make sure flow readings are steady. One pipe installed in the 1960s has a tendency to snap in the weeks after a quake; that piece in particular came to his mind.

This, however, was a fairly light earthquake; quite a different experience than the 5.8 magnitude earthquake in 2017 that was felt for hundreds of miles from its epicenter in Lincoln. On Friday Chappell’s walls wiggled, but nothing fell to the floor. No reports of damage had emerged by noon on Friday. Residents in Missoula, Helena, Lincoln and Wolf Creek registered “weak” as the most intense response to the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Did You Feel It?” reporting system.

“I don’t expect to see anything” damaged after Friday’s temblor, Chappell said.

The earthquake had a 10-kilometer depth, about 6.2 miles, and sprung up from the Monture Creek area north of Ovando. The USGS registered a second quake with a magnitude of 2.5 about four minutes later.

This story may be updated.