Geophysicists examining GPS records from Japan's massive Tohoku earthquake discovered something remarkable—the seismic waves didn't just shake the island, they shifted the entire country's position. According to io9, precision GPS networks captured this unprecedented displacement across Japan, revealing the raw planetary-scale forces at work during major seismic events. It's a striking reminder of how much energy these earthquakes contain and how modern technology lets us measure forces once invisible to our instruments.

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