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QuakeFYI

Distance from Epicenter

Calculate your distance from an earthquake epicenter and check if you would have felt the shaking.

Calculation

Epicentro

Su Ubicación

Parámetros del Terremoto

Cómo la Distancia al Epicentro Afecta la Sacudida

El epicentro es el punto en la superficie terrestre directamente sobre el foco (hipocentro) del terremoto, donde se origina la ruptura de la falla. Las ondas sísmicas irradian hacia afuera desde el hipocentro en todas las direcciones, y su amplitud disminuye con la distancia debido a la dispersión geométrica y la atenuación — la absorción de energía por la roca y el suelo. Por eso la intensidad de la sacudida disminuye a medida que uno se aleja del epicentro, aunque la tasa de disminución depende de la geología local, la profundidad del terremoto y el tipo de onda.

El radio de percepción — la distancia máxima a la que las personas pueden percibir un terremoto — depende principalmente de la magnitud y la profundidad. Un terremoto superficial M6,0 podría sentirse a 200-400 km de distancia, mientras que un evento profundo M6,0 a 300 km de profundidad podría tener un radio de percepción menor a pesar de la misma magnitud. Los terremotos superficiales concentran la energía cerca de la superficie, produciendo sacudidas más fuertes pero más localizadas, mientras que los terremotos profundos distribuyen la energía en un área más amplia pero menos intensa.

Conceptos clave

  • La fórmula de Haversine calcula la distancia de círculo máximo entre dos puntos en una esfera, que es el método utilizado para determinar la distancia epicentral.
  • Tipos de ondas sísmicas — Las ondas P (primarias, compresionales) llegan primero y viajan más rápido; las ondas S (secundarias, de cizalla) llegan después y causan más daño; las ondas superficiales (Love y Rayleigh) llegan últimas pero transportan la energía más destructiva.
  • Los modelos de atenuación de intensidad (como los del ShakeMap del USGS) predicen cómo la Intensidad de Mercalli Modificada disminuye con la distancia para una magnitud y profundidad dadas.
  • La amplificación del sitio puede causar que ubicaciones distantes sobre suelo blando experimenten sacudidas más fuertes que ubicaciones más cercanas sobre roca madre.

Usos comunes

  • Determinar rápidamente si su ubicación se encuentra dentro del área de percepción de un terremoto reportado.
  • Estimar la intensidad de sacudida a una distancia específica para escenarios de planificación de emergencia.
  • Comprender cómo la profundidad y la magnitud interactúan para producir diferentes huellas de sacudida.

How to Use

  1. 1
    Set the Epicenter Coordinates

    Enter the earthquake epicenter latitude and longitude, or search by a recent event name. Epicenter coordinates are published by USGS, EMSC, and national seismological agencies within minutes of a significant event.

  2. 2
    Enter Your Location

    Provide your current location as coordinates, a city name, or an address. The tool calculates the great-circle (surface) distance using the Haversine formula.

  3. 3
    Interpret Your Shaking Estimate

    Review your estimated Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) and whether the shaking would likely be felt. The estimate uses USGS ShakeMap attenuation relations and assumes average soil conditions.

About

The relationship between distance and ground shaking follows well-defined attenuation functions central to seismic hazard analysis. As seismic waves travel outward from the hypocenter, their amplitude decreases due to geometric spreading (energy distributed over an ever-larger spherical surface) and anelastic attenuation (energy absorbed as heat by imperfectly elastic rock). These effects are codified in Ground Motion Prediction Equations (GMPEs), empirical models derived from thousands of recorded earthquakes that predict median and standard deviation of ground motion parameters—such as peak ground acceleration (PGA) or spectral acceleration—as functions of magnitude, distance, depth, and site class.

ShakeMap, developed by the USGS and now adopted by agencies worldwide, combines recorded ground motions from seismograph networks with GMPE predictions to produce near-real-time maps of shaking intensity across a region. The maps use the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale, where MMI I–II represents not-felt or barely-felt shaking, MMI V causes objects to fall from shelves, MMI VII–VIII damages poorly constructed buildings, and MMI X–XII represents near-total structural destruction. ShakeMaps are generated within minutes of significant earthquakes and are used immediately by emergency managers for resource deployment decisions.

For coastal regions, distance from a submarine epicenter carries additional significance beyond ground shaking: earthquake-generated tsunamis. Tsunamis are most efficiently generated by thrust earthquakes on shallow-dipping (< 30°) submarine faults with vertical displacement components greater than roughly 1 meter. The 2004 Sumatra tsunami was triggered 250 km offshore Aceh; wave heights at the coast reached 30 m. Coastal residents within 100 km of a subduction zone should be familiar with the Drop-Cover-Hold guidance for shaking, followed by immediate vertical or inland evacuation upon feeling prolonged shaking lasting more than 20 seconds.

FAQ

How is distance from an earthquake epicenter measured?
Seismologists distinguish between epicentral distance (the surface distance from a location to the point directly above the focus) and hypocentral distance (the straight-line distance to the actual rupture source, accounting for depth). For shallow earthquakes (< 20 km depth), the two values are nearly identical at distances greater than a few kilometers. Epicentral distance is measured along the Earth's surface as the great-circle arc between two points and is expressed in degrees (1° ≈ 111 km) in seismological contexts, or in kilometers for engineering applications. Hypocentral distance is the appropriate quantity for attenuation relations used to predict ground motion.
How far away can an earthquake be felt?
Felt distance depends primarily on magnitude, depth, and regional geology. As a rough guide: a M4.0 may be felt up to 100 km away; a M6.0 up to 400–500 km; a M8.0 can be felt across continental scales exceeding 1,500 km. Deep earthquakes (> 300 km) can be felt at exceptional distances because their waves travel through the mantle with lower attenuation than crustal paths. The 2013 Okhotsk Sea M8.3 deep earthquake (610 km depth) was felt across Russia and as far as Moscow (6,000+ km). Geological structure also plays a role: the central US has lower attenuation than the western US, meaning eastern earthquakes historically felt over larger areas than western events of similar magnitude.
What is the difference between epicenter and hypocenter?
The hypocenter (also called the focus) is the actual point within the Earth where the rupture initiates—where elastic strain energy is first released along the fault. The epicenter is the geographic point on the Earth's surface directly above the hypocenter, obtained by projecting vertically upward. USGS and other agencies report both: epicenter coordinates (latitude/longitude) and focal depth. Depth matters greatly for hazard: a M6.5 earthquake at 5 km depth can be highly destructive, while the same magnitude at 600 km depth may be barely felt at the surface. The 2001 Bhuj earthquake (India) had a shallow depth of 23 km and caused catastrophic damage; in contrast, deep subduction events in the Tonga trench at 600+ km rarely cause surface damage.
Does earthquake depth affect felt shaking?
Earthquake depth has a major influence on the distribution and character of felt shaking. Shallow earthquakes (< 20 km, called 'crustal' earthquakes) concentrate energy near the surface and produce intense, short-duration shaking in a relatively small area. As depth increases, the energy radiates over a larger spherical surface, reducing peak intensities but spreading felt shaking over broader regions. Intermediate-depth earthquakes (70–300 km) in subducting slabs can shake large areas at lower intensities. Very deep earthquakes (> 300 km, 'deep focus') are felt across enormous distances but rarely cause significant damage. The 1994 Northridge M6.7 at 19 km depth caused 57 deaths and US$20 billion in damage; its shallow depth was a key factor in the severity.
Can I determine my distance from an earthquake using a seismograph?
Yes—this is the classical method of locating earthquakes. Seismographs record P-waves (compressional, faster, ~6 km/s in the crust) and S-waves (shear, slower, ~3.5 km/s). The time interval between the P-wave and S-wave arrivals, called the S-P time or Wadati plot, is directly proportional to the distance: distance ≈ S-P time × Vp × Vs / (Vp − Vs). A simple rule of thumb: for every 8 seconds of S-P interval, the earthquake is approximately 80 km away. Three or more seismograph stations allow triangulation of the epicenter. Modern seismic networks with hundreds of stations achieve epicenter location accuracies of 1–5 km within seconds of a significant event.