Chile quake may have shortened days: NASA

megman · Post by **megman** » 03-02-2010 12:48 PM

NASA says the massive earthquake that rocked Chile on Saturday likely shifted Earth's axis and may have shortened the length of a day.

Richard Gross, a research scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., used a complex model to calculate how the Earth's rotation should have changed as a result of the quake.

He and his team determined, according to a preliminary calculation, that the 8.8 magnitude quake should have shortened the length of a day by about 1.26 microseconds (a microsecond is one-millionth of a second).

Gross and his team also calculated how much the quake should have shifted Earth's axis. They determined the Earth's figure axis - which they define as "the axis about which Earth's mass is balanced" - should have moved about 8 centimetres.

In a press release, Gross said the same model estimated the 2004 magnitude 9.1 Sumatran earthquake should have shortened the length of day by 6.8 microseconds and shifted Earth's axis by about 7 centimetres.

The Chilean earthquake was smaller, but Gross says it likely resulted in a greater shift of Earth's axis because it occurred near the planet's mid-latitudes and the fault responsible for it was steeper, and so was "more effective in moving Earth's mass vertically and hence more effective in shifting Earth's figure axis."

Gross said the Chilean calculations could change as the data become more refined.

Live365 · Post by **Live365** » 03-02-2010 01:02 PM

Kinda spooky. The earthquake that caused the Indonesian tsunami was said to have jolted things quite a bit too. Then you start wondering about the cumulative effect of these massive earthquakes.

May you live in interesting times.

Psychicwolf · Post by **Psychicwolf** » 03-02-2010 02:06 PM

I had just read an article about this.
The power of Mother Nature.

Gaia can alter rivers, blow a third of a mountain top off, tilt her own axis and ...
Indeed Live, may you live in interesting times.

Joolz · Post by **Joolz** » 03-02-2010 05:42 PM

That's kinda creepy. I hope there aren't any unforeseen negative effects from this.

Cherry Kelly · Post by **Cherry Kelly** » 03-04-2010 11:03 AM

Many years ago (didn't catch the number) when the Madrid fault shook, it changed the flow of the Mississippi river.

As noted from the Steamboat museum in KC - the Missouri river also changed course, but due to what cause of mother nature - not known for sure.

The change of time was noted from the Indonesian quake, and now the Chile quake was very minor - second or even milli-second on each.

Severe flooding, mudslides all cause their own situations in changing the earth's surface. Mother nature still controls.

===
AND now another quake 6.4 in Taiwan - ring of fire action on one side will often lead to action - reaction on the other. (referencing earth tectonic plates)