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In seismology, the depth of focus or focal depth is the depth at which an earthquake occurs. Earthquakes occurring at a depth of less than 70 km (43 mi) are classified as shallow-focus earthquakes, while those with a focal depth between 70 km (43 mi) and 300 km (190 mi) are commonly termed mid-focus or intermediate-depth earthquakes. [1]
The path of deep-focus earthquake seismic waves from focus to recording station goes through the heterogeneous upper mantle and highly variable crust only once. [3] Therefore, the body waves undergo less attenuation and reverberation than seismic waves from shallow earthquakes, resulting in sharp body wave peaks.
Surface waves are smaller for deep earthquakes, which have less interaction with the surface. For shallow earthquakes – less than roughly 60 km deep – the surface waves are stronger, and may last several minutes; these carry most of the energy of the quake, and cause the most severe damage.
The Mohorovičić discontinuity was first identified in 1909 by Mohorovičić, when he observed that seismograms from shallow-focus earthquakes had two sets of P-waves and S-waves, one set that followed a direct path near the Earth's surface and the other refracted by a high-velocity medium. [4]
Hypocenter (Focus) and epicenter of an earthquake. An earthquake's hypocenter or focus is the position where the strain energy stored in the rock is first released, marking the point where the fault begins to rupture. [3] This occurs directly beneath the epicenter, at a distance known as the hypocentral depth or focal depth. [3]
The temblor, which measured 4.8 on the Richter scale, was considered a shallow earthquake by the U.S. Geological Survey, meaning that it occurred at a depth of zero to 70 kilometers below ground.
As an example, in the magnitude 7.9 Denali earthquake of 2002 in Alaska, the epicenter was at the western end of the rupture, but the greatest damage was about 330 km (210 mi) away at the eastern end. [7] Focal depths of earthquakes occurring in continental crust mostly range from 2 to 20 kilometers (1.2 to 12.4 mi). [8]
These include the length of the fault, magnitude, the depth of the quake, the distance from the epicentre, the duration (length of the shake cycle), and the geology of the ground (subsurface). Shallow-focused earthquakes generate stronger shaking (acceleration) than intermediate and deep quakes, since the energy is released closer to the ...