Quake moved Japan coast 8 feet, shifted Earth's axis

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.earthquake.tsunami.earth/index.html


(CNN) -- The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis.

"At this point, we know that one GPS station moved (8 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 U.S. 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 4 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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U.S. Geological Survey
The quake was the most powerful to hit the island nation in recorded history and the tsunami it unleashed traveled across the Pacific Ocean, triggering tsunami warnings and alerts for 50 countries and territories as far away as the western coasts of Canada, the U.S. and Chile. The quake triggered more than 160 aftershocks in the first 24 hours -- 141 measuring 5.0-magnitude or more.

The quake occurred as the Earth's crust ruptured along an area about 250 miles (400 kilometers) long by 100 miles (160 kilometers) wide, as tectonic plates slipped more than 18 meters, said Shengzao Chen, a USGS geophysicist.

Japan is located along the Pacific "ring of fire," an area of high seismic and volcanic activity stretching from New Zealand in the South Pacific up through Japan, across to Alaska and down the west coasts of North and South America. The quake was "hundreds of times larger" than the 2010 quake that ravaged Haiti, said Jim Gaherty of the LaMont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.

The Japanese quake was of similar strength to the 2004 earthquake in Indonesia that triggered a tsunami that killed over 200,000 people in more than a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean. "The tsunami that it sent out was roughly comparable in terms of size," Gaherty said. "[The 2004 tsunami] happened to hit some regions that were not very prepared for tsunamis ... we didn't really have a very sophisticated tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean basin at the time so the damage was significantly worse."

The Japanese quake comes just weeks after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch on February 22, toppling historic buildings and killing more than 150 people. The timeframe of the two quakes have raised questions whether the two incidents are related, but experts say the distance between the two incidents makes that unlikely.

"I would think the connection is very slim," said Prof. Stephan Grilli, ocean engineering professor at the University of Rhode Island.

CNN's Ivan Cabrera contributed to this report

 

I think the increasing frequency of these things occurring is a result of climate change. Some Geologists also believe the same thing.

http://www.livescience.com/7366-global-warming-spur-earthquakes-volcanoes.html

 

It's the unpredictable nature of plate techtonics...climate ain't got shit to do with continental plates grinding against one another deep beneath the earth's surface.

 

I'd tell you that you're wrong but then people would call me a troll. So I'll jump on the ignorant bandwagon for once, see how this feels....




Agreed. Techtonics plates have nothing to do with climate.

 

by all means, be a troll

ignorant people spouting off equally ignorant (mis)information is bullshit

 

Because the polar ice caps are melting, it causes an abnormal amount of water to exist around a land mass (plate tectonic), something would happen, as it did in Japan.

I'm not sure if you realized, but we had a small earthquake right in Maryland, within the United States. I believe these things are occurring because of the fact that the polar ice caps are melting, and the runoff from the melting is having an effect on tectonic plates and landmasses.

 

This reminds me of something I read once. It is very poetic and yet so true. It goes like this...

And when you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be you not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

[HDYT]APEsVeE7FGk[/HDYT]​

 

[YOUTUBE]Z0GFRcFm-aY[/YOUTUBE]

 

lol

 

The next big quake

Los Angeles or San Francisco is NEXT!

 

The Ice Age is coming
The Sun is zooming in
Meltdown expected
The wheat is growing thin
A nuclear error, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning and IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Live by the River!!!


-Joe Strummer

 

lol

i have to youtube some Clash because of this

 

http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/12/shanghai-students-world-champs.html

 

It's not the end of the world, it's just proof the Japanese aren't as smart as they and everyone else seem to think they are.

Why would a country that size think it beneficial to build 55 nuclear reactors? In comparison, a country the size of America only has 104. Clean energy, whatever. The fact your country sits atop the deadliest section of the "ring of fire" should have been a fuckin red flag from the get go.

Apparently the Japanese didn't think of everything after all.

Edit: it was necessary

 

It's getting spooky around here!!!

The Earth's axis is still chilling at 27 degrees as usual.

 

Japan is to Asia what California is the rest of the United States. In several industries (i.e. automotive, electronics), they are the most innovative thinkers in the world and they'll bounce back from this.

 

I was reading some about other large earthquakes and the 2010 Chilean earthquake shifted the axis enough to shorten the day.

A few links with info:

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1969081,00.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/03/100302-chile-earthquake-earth-axis-shortened-day/

 

.......Quantum Physics has a lot to do with it though. Oops!

*King Aesop shuts his mouth*

 

Quantum Physics.