Word forms: plural epicentresregional note: in AM, use epicenter
countable noun [usually with poss]
The epicentre of an earthquake is the place on the Earth's surface directly above the point whereit starts, and is the place where it is felt most strongly.
The earthquake had its epicentre two-hundred kilometres north-east of the capital.
epicentre in British English
or US epicenter (ˈɛpɪˌsɛntə)
noun
1. Also called: epicentrum
the point on the earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake or underground nuclear explosion
Compare focus (sense 6)
2. informal
the absolute centre of something
the epicentre of world sprinting
Derived forms
epicentral (ˌepiˈcentral)
adjective
Word origin
C19: from New Latin epicentrum, from Greek epikentros over the centre, from epi- + kentron needle; see centre
Examples of 'epicentre' in a sentence
epicentre
The tiny town is close to the quake 's epicentre and is where one of two confirmed deaths occurred.
The Sun (2016)
He was a schoolboy at the time and happened to be in an air-raid shelter less than half a mile from the epicentre of the blast.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
He was a schoolboy at the time and happened to be in a makeshift air-raid shelter less than half a mile from the epicentre of the blast.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Hamburg has been the epicentre of the crisis.
The Sun (2011)
He said it was just a matter of luck that the epicentre of each earthquake had not been nearer.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The effects of an earthquake can be felt hundreds of miles from the epicentre and are powerful enough to wake dormant volcanoes.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
There will be this feeling that you are at the epicentre of a world that is in some way looking at you.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Many locals wept openly in this city of 75,000 close to the epicentre of the earthquake.
The Sun (2011)
The earthquake 's epicentre had been near the distant island of Sumatra.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
What mattered was that, for a moment, we were at the epicentre of the world stage.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Tahrir Square was the epicentre of the revolution and until that night had been safer than most of the rest of Cairo.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Had the epicentre of the earthquake been on land, though, the damage would have been considerable and casualties could have been far worse.