The epicenter is a point on the Earth’s surface that, if you draw a straight line downwards, will meet the center where energy is released, causing an earthquake.
Many geological phenomena occur beneath the Earth’s surface. Some events happen gradually, while others occur suddenly, releasing a significant amount of energy. The tremors that shake the Earth’s surface can be quite intense.
The area underground where these tremors originate is called the seismic focus. The epicenter is a point on the surface directly above the seismic focus. The depth of an earthquake is defined as the distance from the focus to the epicenter. Experts categorize earthquakes into several types: shallow earthquakes (with a distance from the focus to the epicenter of 0 – 70 km); intermediate-depth earthquakes (70 – 300 km); and deep earthquakes (300 – 700 km).
Deep earthquakes are those that can be felt over the greatest distances. The earthquake that occurred in 1897 in Northern India is considered one of the deepest earthquakes ever recorded. Its tremors were felt as far away as Rome, Strasbourg, and Edinburgh.
Shallow earthquakes can cause intense vibrations around the epicenter but have little effect on surrounding areas. The Agadir earthquake in 1960 left almost no consequences for the neighboring regions.
