Google has compiled a collection of high-resolution before-and-after satellite images that depict the areas most affected by the Japanese earthquake on Friday.
Google has released a collection of images showing the extent of the devastation caused by the earthquake in Japan on Friday. Photo credit: Google/ABC/GeoEye
The quake, which has been upgraded to a magnitude 9.0 by the Japan Meteorological Agency, may have shifted the position of Earth's axis about 6.5 inches, Richard Gross, a geophysicist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told the Los Angeles Times. The quake may also have sped up the Earth's rotation, shortening the day by 1.8 microseconds, Gross said. Moreover, the main island of Japan appears to have moved 8 feet, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey told CNN.
"We're working to provide this data directly to response organisations on the ground to aid their efforts," said Ryan Falor, Google Crisis Response team, in a Google Lat Long Blog post. "We hope this new updated satellite imagery is valuable for them as well as everyone else following this situation to help illustrate the extent of the damage."
For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Satellite images show Japan before and after quake on CNET News.
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