Chile Earthquake Has Shifted The Earth Axis

by Abi on March 3, 2010

Chile earthquake last week has effect the Earth’s rotation and made the length of days on our earth shorter, according a scientist from NASA

Richard Gross, NASA researcher scientist said; The Chile earthquake who is recorded as the seventh strongest earthquake in history has shortened the length of an Earth day about 1.26 milliseconds

Chile Earthquake earth axis

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

Gross and his fellow worker use computer model to measure the aftermath from Chile earthquake, they found that the quake also made Earth’s figure axis moved by around 3 inches or 8 cm or 27 milliseconds

He further said that there is no similarity between the Earth figure axis and north-south axis, that twirls 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 milliseconds).

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.

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{ 7 comments }

earth lover March 3, 2010 at 10:37 am

horrible…….
ppl we shold start taking this all seriously!!!!

Emorroidi March 3, 2010 at 3:04 pm

I saw that. I can’t get it but I went like: well if the NASA guys says it has it has and its nothing more about it.

Watching Online March 3, 2010 at 5:23 pm

All very interesting but it doesn’t make a difference in the everyday life. Does it?

CuriousOnlooker March 4, 2010 at 5:05 am

I just cant see how people don’t see this as a serious thing? Sure, earthquakes have been happening for thousands upon thousands of years, but can you not see the long term change? Deny it all you want. . but this planet is a changing thing, it won’t be at our standard of “normal” for forever.

Shop March 4, 2010 at 10:11 am

The cataclysms on earth are becoming more and more often! The scientific minds of our planet should do something about it!

Le @ Online STD March 5, 2010 at 5:11 am

Its really horrible.The largest earthquake was happened in chili so government should do something to recover form this.

share March 5, 2010 at 5:27 am

disaster again :( , after tsunami

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