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GRACE Sees Sumatra Quake

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GRACE was able to measure the deformation of the Earth's crust caused by the December 2004 Sumatra earthquake. That quake changed Earth's gravity by one part in a billion. The identical twin satellites track minute changes in Earth's gravity field resulting from regional changes in Earth's mass. Masses of ice, air, water and solid Earth can be moved by weather patterns, seasonal change, climate change and even tectonic events, such as the Sumatra earthquake.

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