epicenter
noun
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The meaning of epi- in epicenter is "over", so the epicenter of an earthquake lies over the center or "focus" of the quake. Epicenter can also refer to the centers of things that may seem in their own way as powerful—though not as destructive—as earthquakes. Wall Street, for example, might be said to lie at the epicenter of the financial world.
Synonyms
Examples of epicenter in a Sentence
Andrea Adkins-Hutchins, Fortune, 10 Apr. 2024
The quake, which had an epicenter near Ferrelview in Platte County, just a few miles east of Kansas City International Airport, was reported around 1:45 p.m. March 15.
—Nathan Pilling, Kansas City Star, 6 Apr. 2024
The epicenter of the Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles in 1994 was in the San Fernando Valley, the point where the quake was strongest.
—Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2024
The earthquake’s epicenter was in Lebanon, N.J., a city in the North-Central part of the state.
—Anna Gordon, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024
Based on the preliminary magnitude, the quake was the strongest with an epicenter in New Jersey since 1783, according to NJ OEM records.
—Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 5 Apr. 2024
In the city of Hualien, near the epicenter on Taiwan's east coast, Mayor Hsu Chen-wei said 48 residential buildings were damaged by Wednesday's quake and subsequent aftershocks, according to the Associated Press.
—Chris Pandolfo, Fox News, 4 Apr. 2024
Related article Israeli military launches new raid at Gaza’s largest hospital, once the epicenter of the fighting
Now in its 11th day, the operation is the second of its kind at the hospital, which sits in the western part of northern Gaza City.
—Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN, 28 Mar. 2024
The band continued to hone its live attack in early 1994, though Cuomo also used the last of his money from Geffen’s advance to enroll in several music classes at Los Angeles Valley College, not far from the epicenter of January’s disastrous Northridge earthquake.
—Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'epicenter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
New Latin epicentrum, from epi- + Latin centrum center
1880, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Articles Related to epicenter
Dictionary Entries Near epicenter
Cite this Entry
“Epicenter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epicenter. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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epicenter
noun
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