Could a massive tsunami, like the one that hit Japan in 2011after a powerful earthquake, happen in the U.S.? According to anarticle in The New York Times, scientists are gettingcloser to finding out.

Scientists have learned that the waves from that tsunami were aslarge as they were because the part of the seafloor along the faultmoved as much as 55 yards to the east in the earthquake, displacingan enormous amount of water, the article states.

That degree of movement is the largest ever measured for anearthquake, says the article. What makes this more surprising isthat the earthquake occurred in a subduction zone, where one of theplanet's tectonic plates dives beneath another. It was thought thatthe largest slip would occur at greater depths, and that shallowerparts of the fault, nearer the seafloor, would move less, accordingto the article.

After a drilling expedition in that area, in which scientistsmeasured temperatures and studied its geology, itwas found that the fault is weak and slippery, causing themassive movement, states the article.

It adds that the findings may help scientists understand thedestructive potential in similar areas, like the Cascadia faultzone off the northwestern U.S. and Canada.

Read more about the drilling expedition in the article byHenry Fountain in The New York Times HERE.