震波隐秘效应：2011年日本整体微移
After the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, scientists found a startling fact: the nation of Japan had shifted. GPS data showed movement not just near the fault, but across the whole country. The shift was tiny, just a few millimeters, yet consistent and widespread. Normally, quake-induced ground movement is local, but here distant regions also slid.
Researchers traced the cause to ScS waves, a type of seismic energy that travels deep through the Earth's mantle. Unlike surface waves, they bounce off the core and scatter energy broadly. This allows them to reach far beyond the immediate quake zone. In Japan, the strong shaking sent ScS waves rippling under the country, subtly nudging countless small faults. The cumulative slip from these tiny faults shifted the whole landmass by several millimeters. This mechanism had never been documented before.
Inspired by Scientific American reporting · Rewritten by Vocabsavvy · Vocabsavvy Original (inspired-by attribution)