Quote - The axis changed nothing. Changing the Earth  axis of rotation would imply a change of the momentum of the Earth. To change the momentum of a body you need to apply an external force to the body. The earthquake is an internal force and so, it cannot change the momentum of the whole body.

Sounds logical, but have you ever watched figure skaters or have wondered what the little clumps of lead on a wheel rim are for? The axis shift from the march 2011 tsunami is  estimated between 4 and 12 inches.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami