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Wednesday 3 March 2010

Days on the Earth Might Have Been Shortened by Chile Quake


According to NASA, the massive 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile may have shifted Earth's axis and changed the entire Earth's rotation and shortened the length of days on our planet.

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).

Strong earthquakes have altered Earth's days and its axis in the past

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.

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3 comments:

Myne said...

Just hard this on the news and was surprised. We'll see what happens.

kamala Lutatinisibwa Lutabasibwa said...

humman being are now seeming to be skeptical on their future than ever, life is said to be short, not in religion, etc, now science has joined them.

who has ever predicted the beggining of the world? if none how come they know the end?

may b chib is on the way.......

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