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Earthquake in Japan

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Earthquake in Japan The name of the article I choose is Quake Moved Japan Coast 8 fee, Shifted Earth’s axis by Kevin Voigt, CNN, March 11th, 2011. http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-12/world/japan.earthquake.tsunami.earth_1_tsunami-usgs-geophysicist-quake?_s=PM:WORLD This article talks about the 8.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Japan last Friday March 11th, 2011. The quake started a massive tsunami that also hit the country of Japan and sent 50 other territories into alert for the massive waves. Japan’s main island was moved 8 feet and the earth’s axis was also shifted 4 inches. “At this point, we know that one GPS station moved (8 feet), and we have seen a map from GSI (Geospatial Information Authority) in Japan showing the pattern of shift over a large area is consistent with about that much shift of the land mass” said Kenneth Hudnut, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).” Thirty foot walls of water struck Japan causing massive amounts of damage. Boats, cars and people’s homes were tossed around like feathers. This article also reports that some waves reached 6 miles inland. “The quake was the most powerful to hit the island nation in recorded history.” There were also move than 160 aftershocks in the first day of the initial earthquake. The earth’s crust exploded in an area around 250 miles and 100 miles long. The titanic plates moved more than 18 meters. This earthquake has killed thousands of people and made thousands more homeless. Japan was underprepared for this type of disaster. I was really shocked when I read that the island of Japan was moved 8 feet and the earth’s axis 4 inches. That just seems impossible. I hope that the country of Japan and it’s surrounding areas can come back from such a devastating

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