Quake Moves Japan Closer to California

When the Pacific tectonic plate dived under the North American plate, The United States Geologicall Survey reports, Japan moved about 13 feet closer to California. And shifted the earth's axis by 6.5 inches, shortened the day by 1.6 microseconds, and sunk Japan downward by about two feet. When Japan's eastern coastline sunk, the tsunami's waves rolled in.

Eryn Brown in the LA Times, March 14