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Thursday 17 March, 2011

Quake moves Japan coast, shifts Earth's axis


Quake moves Japan coast, shifts Earth's axis
Tokyo: The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami on Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by eight feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis.
"At this point, we know that one GPS station moved (eight feet), and we have seen a map from GSI (Geospatial Information Authority) in Japan showing the pattern of shift over a large area is consistent with about that much shift of the land mass," said Kenneth Hudnut, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey (USGS).
Reports from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy estimated the 8.9-magnitude quake shifted the planet on its axis by nearly four inches (10 centimeters).
The temblor, which struck Friday afternoon near the east coast of Japan, killed hundreds of people, caused the formation of 30-foot walls of water that swept across rice fields, engulfed entire towns, dragged houses onto highways, and tossed cars and boats like toys. Some waves reached six miles (10 kilometers) inland in Miyagi Prefecture on Japan's east coast.


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