Hawaii and Japan Inch Closer Together

TOKYO — Japanese and American researchers have discovered that Hawaii moved 1.6 inches closer to Japan during the last year, a government research institute said Tuesday.

The researchers also found that the Marshall Islands in the Pacific moved three inches toward Japan between July, 1984, and May, 1985, proving that the Pacific plate is moving toward the island nation, an institute spokesman said.

The discoveries, made with a technique that measures radio waves emitted from a star, were made jointly by the Radio Wave Research Laboratory of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.