The Japan earthquake + tsunami caused a great impact in the world due its big effect on humans, produced a great number of victims, melted three nuclear reactors and damagesd a fourth, spread radiation over the world and caused great economical damage, but it is overvalued in its physical effects.

Some few years ago a very powerful earthquake hit Chile and produced a strong tsunami that washed the shores, but it produced a small number of victims, the economical damage was small and the only thing most important was some political damage to the goverment and its propaganda (things were not so marvelous as the population believed).

But as Chile is a third workd country so far away in a remote region and no big tragedy happened there nobody cared if the Earth tilted its axis or time changed some microseconds.

Very strong earthquakes are something common, but as most of them happens so deep inside the Earth or in a place that is nothing there, nobody knows and nobody cares if the planet is spinning more or was lost in space out of control

Stupidity also evolves!