Aerial Photos Before And After 2011 Earthquake And Tsunami, Japan

This earthquake released a surface energy (Me) of 1.9±0.5×1017 joules, dissipated as shaking and tsunamic energy, which is nearly double that of the 9.1-magnitude 2004 Sumatran earthquake that killed 230,000 people. The total energy released (Mw) was calculated by the USGS WPhase Moment Solution at 3.9×1022 joules, slightly less than the 2004 Sumatra quake. The total energy released underground was some 205,000 times that on the surface. "If we could only harness the energy from this earthquake, it would power a city the size of Los Angeles for an entire year", USGS director Marcia McNutt said in an interview.
Geophysical impact
According to Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, the earthquake's enormous strength shifted the Earth's axis by 25 centimeters (9.8 in). This deviation led a number of small changes, including those to the length of a day and the tilt of the Earth. The speed of the Earth's rotation increased, shortening the day by 1.8 microseconds due to the redistribution of Earth's mass.