Explore a time-lapse animation of the hundreds of aftershocks to strike Japan

Since the initial 9.0-magnitude quake, Japan has been struck by hundreds of aftershocks.

Interactive Site

Frankly, I'm not surprised by the number of aftershocks considering the geography and topography of the region and the magnitude of the quake.
What would be "cool" is if they showed the displacement of the land mass(es) as well, as the aftershocks occured.

reply to post by abecedarian


That would be cool, but wouldnt it usually only be a few centimeters at most?
I read on another thread that japan has moved 8 feet after the 9.0??? dont know how true this is??
anyone confirm?

Nice find, that's crazy to see them all popping off like that, it reminded me of something getting heavily bombarded, also drops of rain falling onto a lake.

reply to post by grindhouzer


Seems the quake moved the Japanese mainland up to 8 feet.

The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis.

"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).

More at link above.

If they can get that sort of information, I'm sure they can plot the locations of other areas with reasonable accuracy.