Record-breaking ocean drilling reveals why Japan's 2011 tsunami was so deadly

Deep-sea drilling has revealed why Japan's 2011 earthquake and tsunami were so catastrophic, according to ScienceDaily. Researchers discovered a thin, slippery layer of ancient clay beneath the Pacific Ocean that allowed the earthquake's rupture to race all the way to the seafloor. That massive seafloor movement displaced enormous amounts of water, generating the deadly tsunami. The finding comes from record-breaking ocean drilling that went deeper than ever before into the seismic zone.

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