The scenario is similar to that of a figure skaterdrawing her arms inward during a spin to turn faster on the ice. The closer the mass shift during an earthquake is to the equator, the more it will speed up the spinning Earth.
　　这一情景就像花样滑冰运动员在冰上旋转时，为了让自己旋转得更快，她会将手臂内曲。在地震中，地球质量移动得离赤道越近，地球转速就越快。

　　One Earth day is about 24 hours, or 86,400 seconds, long. Over the course of a year, its length varies by about one millisecond, or 1,000 microseconds, due to seasonal variations in the planet's mass distribution such as the seasonal shift of the jet stream.
　　地球上的一天是24小时，或8.64万秒。在一年中，由于地球质量分布产生的季节性变动，例如高空急流产生的季节性变动，地球日长会发生约1毫秒（1000微秒）的差值。

　　The initial data suggests Friday's earthquake moved Japan's main island about 8 feet, according to Kenneth Hudnut of the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake also shifted Earth's figure axis by about 6 1/2 inches (17 centimeters), Gross added.
　　据美国地质调查局的肯尼斯•哈得纳特称，最初的数据显示，上周五的大地震使日本主岛发生了约8英尺的位移。格罗斯还说，这次地震使地轴偏移约6.5英寸（合17厘米）。

　　The Earth's figure axis is not the same as its north-south axis in space, which it spins around once every day at a speed of about 1,000 mph (1,604 kph). The figure axis is the axis around which the Earth's mass is balanced and the north-south axis by about 33 feet (10 meters).
　　地轴不同于空间里的南北轴线。地轴每天围绕南北轴线旋转一次，转速约为1000英里/时（合1604千米/时）。地轴是地球质量平衡的轴线，偏离南北轴线约33英尺（10米）。

　　"This shift in the position of the figure axis will cause the Earth to wobble a bit differently as it rotates, but will not cause a shift of the Earth's axis in space – only external forces like the gravitational attraction of the sun, moon, and planets can do that," Gross said.