Until March 11, 2011, scientists did not believe a 9.0 magnitude earthquake off of Japan’s Tohoku coast was possible. 

That’s the thrust of a Washington Post story that explores how last year’s devastating tsunami humbled the scientific community. Scientists are now examining basic assumptions about earthquakes.

“This is a humbling field. If you want to be smug, don’t be an Earth scientist, and certainly don’t be an earthquake researcher,” the newspaper quotes Ross Stein of the U.S. Geological Survey as having said. 

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