Quake Strikes Japan, Alters Earth's Axis

On Friday, March 11, at 2:45 in the afternoon, the ground shook with such force that houses crumpled and power went out, sending people rushing into the streets. The 9.0-magnitude earthquake also triggered a tsunami: a towering wave in the ocean that rushed in and swept away small towns along the coast.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, “In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and most difficult crisis for Japan."

Quake redistributes Earth's mass

	During the quake, part of the Japanese coast shifted eight feet closer to the west coast of the U.S.

Japan is located in a geologically unstable part of the world and was well-prepared for an earthquake. However, this "super-quake" was surprisingly strong and the resulting tsunami damaged vital infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants.

Japan sits on the North American tectonic plate, which wraps up and around the Pacific plate. The Pacific plate moves about 3.5 inches a year and dives under the North American plate. Pressure builds up between the plates and can be released in one big movement, causing an earthquake.

During this quake, a 250-mile-long coastal section of Japan dropped in altitude by two feet and parts of the island spread eight feet closer to the west coast of the United States.

NASA calculations suggest the weight redistribution will push the Earth to spin faster, shortening the length of the day by about 1.8 microseconds (a microsecond is one millionth of a second).

Although the enormity of the devastation is still being determined, Japanese officials and humanitarian workers fear the worst. In the eastern town of Otsuchi, population 15,000, more than 12,000 people remain missing.

Japanese tsunami hits Pacific region, including U.S.

	The underwater quake triggered a tsunami, or tidal wave, that spread in both directions and affected both Japan and parts of the U.S.

A tsunami (Japanese for ‘harbor wave”), is a series of waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of water when the sea floor abruptly shifts. Almost 200 tsunamis have been recorded in Japan, the most in the world. Within minutes of the earthquake, waves of up to 33 feet struck Japan and traveled up to six miles inland.

Geologists issued tsunami warnings and evacuations on Japan’s Pacific coast and in more than 20 countries, including New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii and the entire Pacific coast of North, South and Latin America.

Marinas and docks along the coasts of Oregon to southern California were damaged, and at least one person was swept out to sea in the hours after the initial tsunami.

Earthquake damages nuclear plants

	Japanese officials are trying to contain quake damage done to three nuclear plants along the coast.

Several nuclear power plants in Japan were damaged following the earthquake; one is in a state of emergency. Officials from the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency have reported increased radiation levels up to 1,000 times normal levels inside several plants.

Government officials are trying to calm the public, saying the releases of radiation into the air are modest, but fear is rising.

International rescue response

	Rescue workers struggled to pull survivors out of the rubble left by the earthquake and tsunami.

More than 45 countries, including the United States, have offered rescue teams to Japan. Japanese and New Zealand urban search and rescue teams have had little rest after they spent the last three weeks searching for survivors of the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck New Zealand's second most populous city, Christchurch, on Feb. 22.

Technology such as Google's People Finder has tracked almost 155,000 records, helping to reunite loved ones. Several humanitarian groups, including World Vision, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army, have personnel in the affected areas providing food, water, medical supplies and shelter for victims.