Historic Earthquakes
Hebgen Lake, Montana
1959 08 18 06:37:15 UTC (local 08/17)
Magnitude 7.3
Intensity X
Largest Earthquake in Montana
Damage Photos
This pump formerly sat on its concrete base. At the time of
the earthquake, water and sand were forced up the casing
and played against the base of the pump gradually raising
it some 8 inched above its former position. The sand shows
as light tan; the concrete base is light gray.
Gallatin County, Montana. August 1959.
The Hebgen fault scarp where it crosses the crest of
Bost Mountain neart Hebgen Dam. Man stands on down-thrown
block of ground. Gallatin County,
Montana. August 1959.
Hebgen Lake area. Remnant of road which slid into lake at left;
new road at right. Gallatin County, Montana. July 6, 1984.
View of one wall of the spillway. This view, taken in 1960 when a
new spillway was being constructed across Hebgen Dam, shows many
of the fractures and breaks formed in the old spillway during
the earthquake. Gallatin County, Montana. 1960.
"Quake Lake", formed by earthquake landslide.
Madison County, Montana. August 1959.
Red Canyon fault scarp east of Blarney Stone Ranch Montana
earthquake area. Gallatin County, Montana. August 1959.
Distant view of Red Mountain scarp.
Gallatin County, Montana. September 1959.
Detritus, tilted trees, and the hummocky ground marks
the center of the Kirkwood earth flow. View is
southwestward. Gallatin County, Montana. 1959.
Photos from the Earth Science Photographs from the U.S. Geological Survey Library, by Joseph K. McGregor and Carl Abston, U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series DDS-21, 1995.
