Deep earthquakes occur in a region of the mantle called the Benioff zone, where seismic activity follows the interaction between a subducting plate and the upper mantle.
The earthquake in Christchurch, NZ on the 22nd of February, 2011 was located just 4 or 5km underground. To put this in perspective, the quake in September, located near Christchurch was twice the...
It depends, but 'shallow' (refering to the 'focus') earthquakes hit, usally, with a bigger force. This is because if the focus is closer to the surface of the earth (like in the Kobe earthquake) then...