The Japanese quake caused a 400-km-long and 160-km-wide rupture in the Earth's crust as one tectonic plate dove under another off the coast of northern Japan. This led to an upheaval in the sea above it sending a 30-foot wall of water racing up to 10km inland in Japan and reaching Californiaacross the Pacific Ocean 10 hours later. Several small island states in the Pacific experienced 2-3 feet high waves, which were ripples of the Japanese tsunami as it went bouncing across the ocean
The earthquake-cum-tsunami packed such fury that it has moved Japan's main island, Honshu, by about 8 feet. It's also caused the Earth's axis to wobble by about 4 inches – something that experts say will lead to the shortening of the day by 1.6 microseconds, or just over a millionth of a second.
These very tiny changes happen because of changes in the speed of rotation of the Earth as surface mass gets shifted around in earthquakes, says Patrick Dasgupta, professor of astrophysics in Delhi University.
As portions of the Earth's surface shift, there is a bit of an extra wobble in the planet's rotation around its axis. This causes an increase in the speed of spinning, resulting in shortening of the day, said Dasgupta. This, however, will have no impact on life on Earth
These very tiny changes happen because of changes in the speed of rotation of the Earth as surface mass gets shifted around in earthquakes, says Patrick Dasgupta, professor of astrophysics in Delhi University.
As portions of the Earth's surface shift, there is a bit of an extra wobble in the planet's rotation around its axis. This causes an increase in the speed of spinning, resulting in shortening of the day, said Dasgupta. This, however, will have no impact on life on Earth
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