HELENA – The U.S. Geological Survey reports a preliminary 4.1 magnitude earthquake in western Montana.

The quake occurred at 7 a.m. Saturday in a sparsely populated area about 15 miles east of the small community of Lincoln or 28 miles northwest of Helena.

The Independent Record reports that while hundreds of earthquakes are recorded near Helena every year, an online search of USGS archives did not show any of equal or greater magnitude within 50 miles of Lincoln in at least a decade.