This Japanese quake moved land — and even Earth
The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake did not just shake buildings. It moved Honshu, Japan's main island, 2.4 meters east, shifted Earth's axis by 10 to 25 cm, and even made the planet spin slightly faster.How the 2011 Tōhoku Quake Changed Earth
Yes, the day got shorter
Because the quake rearranged some of Earth's mass, the planet's rotation sped up by 1.8 microseconds per day. A microsecond is tiny in daily life, but it is still amazing for a single natural disaster.How the 2011 Tōhoku Quake Changed Earth
