during an earthquake, why is there an epicenter? Shouldn’t the force be distributed evenly along the fault line?

Question

during an earthquake, why is there an epicenter? Shouldn’t the force be distributed evenly along the fault line?

In: 19

Answer 1

Bend a sheet of wood until it snaps. It doesn’t snap all the way along in one go, one bit rips first and the rest tears. That bit has the most shock

Now think about it with lengths of rock pushing against each other diagonally. The pressure builds up in one jagged edge and something snaps, then the rest slides much easier. The point that snaps is the epicenter.