Epicenter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Epicenter (disambiguation).
The epicenter or epicentre (ancient Greek: επίκεντρον) is the point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the point where an earthquake or other underground explosion originates. The epicenter is directly above the hypocenter, the actual location of the energy release inside the earth. Seismic waves propagate spherically out from the hypocenter. Seismic shadowing occurs on the opposite side of the Earth from the earthquake epicenter because the liquid outer core absorbs the transverse or shear waves (S-waves), and refracts the longitudinal or compressional (P-waves).
After an earthquake has occurred, geologists can find out where the epicentre was located by looking at different seismograms.
The term epicenter is also applicable to the center of other catastrophic events, such as an impact of a meteorite or comet. Colloquially, "epicenter" is used as a synonym for "center," but many find this use to be improper. See, e.g., this dictionary entry.br:Epikreizenn bg:Епицентър ca:Epicentre cs:Epicentrum da:Epicenter de:Epizentrum et:Epitsenter es:Epicentro eo:Surcentro (tertremo) fr:Épicentre gl:Epicentro id:Episenter is:Skjálftamiðja it:Epicentro hu:Epicentrum nl:Epicentrum ja:震央 no:Episenter pl:Epicentrum pt:Epicentro ru:Эпицентр fi:Episentrumi sv:Epicentrum vi:Chấn tâm uk:Епіцентр
