The epicenter is the point on the earth's surface directly above the origin of an earthquake.
center; middle; heart · capital; seat of government
epicenter
mid-year; middle of the year
middle of the month
center of a prefecture; heart of a prefecture
central Hokkaido
The kanji 央 is of Chinese origin, originally depicting a person standing under a roof, symbolizing the center. In Japanese, it is used as a suffix in Sino-Japanese compounds to mean 'middle' or 'center'.