Parts of Japan moved 13 feet closer to US
Image via WikipediaThe magnitude-8.9 earthquake that struck northern Japan on Friday not only violently shook the ground and generated a devastating tsunami, it also moved the coastline and changed the balance of the planet.There is much more.
Global positioning stations closest to the epicenter jumped eastward by up to 13 feet.
Japan is “wider than it was before,” said Ross Stein, a geophysicist at the United States Geological Survey.
Meanwhile, NASA scientists calculated that the redistribution of mass by the earthquake might have shortened the day by a couple of millionths of a second and tilted the Earth’s axis slightly.
Not all of Japan jumped 13 feet closer to the United States, said Kenneth W. Hudnut, a geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey. The shifts occurred mostly in the area closest to the epicenter, and stations farther away reported much less movement.
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This is an excellent report discussing how the plates below the surface of the earth shift and cause movement on the surface. One thing that is abundantly clear is that it has nothing to do with the climate on the surface. The surface of Japan in some areas did lower by up to two feet allowing the tsunami to travel further inland. The story is well worth reading in full.
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