Westward movements

The Earth truly moved during the recent earthquake in Chile, the Associated Press reported. Researchers found that cities and islands physically shifted west. The city of Concepcion, the nearest major city to the quake, traveled at least 10 feet to the west, according to scientists at Ohio State University and the University of Hawaii.

Chile's capital, Santiago, moved nearly a foot. Buenos Aires, Argentina, traveled an inch and the Falkland Islands were nudged west as well.

Using GPS, the scientists were able to detect the movements, which were more dramatic than usual because the earthquake was an 8.8 magnitude event.