Some islands of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago have shifted southwest by 'a few metres' after the December 26 earthquake near Sumatra in Indonesia, according to a study by Indian geologists.
Chatham, Havelock, Diglipur, Hut Bay, Car Nicobar, Campbell Bay and Barren Island have shifted after the magnitude 9 (revised upwards to 9.3) earthquake, scientists at the Centre for Earth Science Studies in Thiruvananthapuram said.
The finding was made from a geodetic survey using the American global positioning satellite system, CESS seismologist C P Rajendran said.
Signals from the constellation of 24 GPS satellites help to accurately determine coordinates of any point on the ground and establish the distance between any two points through triangulation. Continuous reception of the signals gives a clue to whether a point has moved or not.