Bodle (1941) reports that a shock with maximum intensity of IV occurred near Detroit Lakes and was felt over an "area with radius of 80 km" (50 miles).

The event received front page newspaper coverage for the 2 February 1939 issues of the Detroit Lakes Record, the Detroit Lakes Tribune, the Frazee Press, and the Lake Park Journal. Many felt reports were received from Detroit Lakes, Frazee (15 km ESE), Audubon (15 km WNW), Lake Park (25 km WNW), Lake Eunice (15 km WSW), and Vergas (18 km S). The strongest felt reports appear to have been in Audubon, where the telephone exchange was "swamped" with calls. I [Harold M. Mooney] have therefore placed the epicenter at Audubon. These towns define a circle with radius of about 30 km. If we add isolated felt reports from outlying area, a radius of 50 km (30 miles) seems more likely than Bodle's figure noted above.

The newspaper reports agreed that the sensation consisted of a deep rumble (like a "truck collision" or "a train going over a bridge") followed by a weak tremor which lasted for 5-15 seconds. Dishes and windows rattled, a wood pile collapsed, and large cracks in the lake ice reportedly opened. According to the superintendent of the Sand Beach sanatorium near Lake Park, "the entire building shook violently and dietitians in the kitchen reported that dishes rattled in the pans and they feared the floors would crack."