Shallow, weak (in magnitude) earthquakes can do significant damage locally because the intensity of an earthquake (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seismic_intensi

Shallow, weak (in magnitude) earthquakes can do significant damage locally because the intensity of an earthquake (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seismic_intensity_scales https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seismic_intensity_scales) decreases with distance to its source. https://www.insidescience.org/news/2019-year-fracking-earthquakes-turned-deadly https://www.insidescience.org/news/2019-year-fracking-earthq...: “The Feb. 25 earthquake was only a magnitude 4.9, which would not traditionally be considered very dangerous. But it was able to destroy older and more vulnerable buildings because it was so close to the surface -- only about one kilometer deep according to the new study”