Chile quake may have shifted Earth's axis

[Omar Khalid]

The massive 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile may have changed the entire Earth's rotation and shortened the length of days on our planet, a NASA scientist said Monday.


The quake, the seventh strongest earthquake in recorded history, hit Chile Saturday and should have shortened the length of an Earth day by 1.26 milliseconds, according to research scientist Richard Gross at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.


"Perhaps more impressive is how much the quake shifted Earth's axis," NASA officials said in a Monday update.


The computer model used by Gross and his colleagues to determine the effects of the Chile earthquake effect also found that it should have moved Earth's figure axis by about 3 inches (8 cm or 27 milliarcseconds).


The Earth's figure axis is not the same as its north-south axis, which it spins around once every day at a speed of about 1,000 mph (1,604 kph).


The figure axis is the axis around which the Earth's mass is balanced. It is offset from the Earth's north-south axis by about 33 feet (10 meters).


Strong earthquakes have altered Earth's days and its axis in the past. The 9.1 Sumatran earthquake in 2004, which set off a deadly tsunami, should have shortened Earth's days by 6.8 microseconds and shifted its axis by about 2.76 inches (7 cm, or 2.32 milliarcseconds).


One Earth day is about 24 hours long. Over the course of a year, the length of a day normally changes gradually by one millisecond. It increases in the winter, when the Earth rotates more slowly, and decreases in the summer, Gross has said in the past.


The Chile earthquake was much smaller than the Sumatran temblor, but its effects on the Earth are larger because of its location. Its epicenter was located in the Earth's mid-latitudes rather than near the equator like the Sumatran event.


The fault responsible for the 2010 Chile quake also slices through Earth at a steeper angle than the Sumatran quake's fault, NASA scientists said.


"This makes the Chile fault more effective in moving Earth's mass vertically and hence more effective in shifting Earth's figure axis," NASA officials said.


Gross said his findings are based on early data available on the Chile earthquake. As more information about its characteristics are revealed, his prediction of its effects will likely change.


The Chile earthquake has killed more than 700 people and caused widespread devastation in the South American country.


Several major telescopes in Chile's Atacama Desert have escaped damage, according to the European Southern Observatory managing them.


A salt-measuring NASA satellite instrument destined to be installed on an Argentinean satellite was also undamaged in the earthquake, JPL officials said.


The Aquarius instrument was in the city of Bariloche, Argentina, where it is being installed in the Satelite de Aplicaciones Cientificas (SAC-D) satellite. The satellite integration facility is about 365 miles (588 km) from the Chile quake's epicenter.


The Aquarius instrument is designed to provide monthly global maps of the ocean's salt concentration in order to track current circulation and its role in climate change.






http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20100302/ ... aysonearth

[Mr.P]

Well, we are closing in on 2012

[embm]

creepy

[dR3]

Well, we are closing in on 2012

Even though I don't believe in that, lately it's been creeping me out like a motherfucker.

[Mr. FTP]

i just don't want to believe in 2012, i mean i feel like its coming but i dont wanna be one of those people who kills themselves just cuz its December 21, 2012.
i swear to god, ill be the last person on earth smoking a bong!!

[Kez]

So basically every bad thing that happens nowadays is gonna be related to 2012 because 2012 is within close reach? Good logic there. Bad things haven't been happening for centuries.

[FAME]

This is weird, shorter days? So what now we have longer nights? I don't get it.

[Mr.P]

So basically every bad thing that happens nowadays is gonna be related to 2012 because 2012 is within close reach? Good logic there. Bad things haven't been happening for centuries.

I was just joking, if that was to me But anyways yeah pretty much, some people believe that 2012 is really going to happen. And things like this happening will only make it worse and make them believe it’s coming even more. People just need to chill lol, but I understand how something like this could freak out a believer

[Dark Blue]

Well, we are closing in on 2012

Even though I don't believe in that, lately it's been creeping me out like a motherfucker.

yeah same here. i don't like this

[Omar Khalid]

This is weird, shorter days? So what now we have longer nights? I don't get it.

it takes earth to revolve around itself 24 Hours but now it takes less than 24 Hours

get it ?

[Kez]

So basically every bad thing that happens nowadays is gonna be related to 2012 because 2012 is within close reach? Good logic there. Bad things haven't been happening for centuries.

I was just joking, if that was to me But anyways yeah pretty much, some people believe that 2012 is really going to happen. And things like this happening will only make it worse and make them believe it’s coming even more. People just need to chill lol, but I understand how something like this could freak out a believer

I wouldn't say i aimed it at you specifically lol just at the people saying this stupid shit