Science of the Quake Developments in the wake of Japan's triple
disasters: earthquake, tsunami, nuclear. The US Geological
Survey upgraded Japan's 11 March earthquake today to 9.0 from
8.9. Based on Japan's huge network of 1,200 GPS monitoring
stations, the quake shifted the country's coastline some 4
meters / 13 feet to the east, and knocked Earth of its axis by
16.5 centimeters / 6.5 inches, shortening Earth's days by about
1.8 millionths of a second. The BBC reports that geographical
shift will require that GPS-based driving maps be updated, and
nautical charts, too, since water depths have been changed.
Furthermore, much of the flooded coastline appears to have
subsided permanently—or as permanently as anything ever is on
this restless planet—and will not be dry land again anytime in
the near future. Here are before and after images of the the
city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture near the quake's
epicenter. The "after" shot, above, was taken three days after
the quake. Water still inundated the city. T