Shallower earthquakes cause much more damage (on the surface), esp. if near densely populated areas; also depends greatly on how earthquake-proof structures and buildings are. Today's one was 34km deep/21 miles.

1989 SF (Loma Prieta) was magnitude 6.9, epicenter 56 mi south of SF, depth 11 miles. (Typical California earthquake focal depths are 4 to 6 miles).

1906 huge SF earthquake was magnitude 7.9, depth 5 miles.

2008 Sichuan, China earthquake (87,587 killed) was magnitude 8.0, depth 19 km.

2011 Fukushima, Japan earthquake(+ tsunami) was magnitude 9.0, depth of 18.6 mi/30km at sea.

https://pressbooks.cuny.edu/gorokhovich/chapter/causes-of-ea....

Mostly just significant in terms of distance. If it's deeper, it's farther away and you'll feel it less.