The most devastating damage occurred immediately downstream of Hebgen Lake, where 80 million tons of rock broke off a mountain and crashed into the Madison Valley, instantly wiping out a campground that was full of campers as they slept, killing all 21 campers. There are several campgrounds and resorts found throughout the area, and is truly an outdoor person's paradise. This beautiful lake provides great fishing, as well as any other water sport you can think of, such as water skiing, canoeing, kayaking and swimming. Today, Hebgen Lake is an extremely popular vacation destination, but there are still a few cabins still halfway under water to remind us of that horrifying night in 1959, even though most of the cabins are now long gone. The stories from the survivors of how they were awakened to a wall of water covering their cabin and how they escaped in total darkness sends shivers down anyone's spine. Cabins along the north shore with people sleeping in them were instantly covered in water, as well as large sections of the highway, as Hebgen Lake shifted it's shoreline. This 20 foot fault scarp can still be seen today, as it stretches for miles. The north shore of Hebgen Lake instantly rose 8 feet and the south shore dropped 8 feet as a huge area of earth instantly tilted as much as 20 feet. People felt this earthquake as far away as Salt Lake City, Utah and beyond.Įven though there was significant damage and loss of life in the neighboring states of Wyoming and Idaho, by far the majority of the damage occurred closest to the epicenter. The quake violently shook the area for over 40 seconds, causing many millions of dollars worth of damage and the loss of 28 lives. Known as the " Hebgen Lake Earthquake", the epicenter was located in the Madison Valley near Hebgen Lake, which is located about 15 miles north of West Yellowstone, Montana. At 11:37 pm on August 17, 1959, one of the strongest earthquakes in American history hit southwest Montana, causing significant damage and killing 28 people. The size of the quake was measured between 7.5 and 7.8 on the Richter scale, which is only rivaled by the "Good Friday Earthquake" in Alaska in 1964, which registered as a 9.2 magnitude quake.
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