Chile earthquake may have shortened length of Earth's days
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Mar 2, 2010, 2:05:21 AM3/2/10
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Perilous Times
Chile earthquake may have shortened length of Earth's days
The powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile, killing more than 700 people and triggering a tsunami alert, may also have shifted the planet's axis and shortened the length of each Earth day.
Published: 6:30AM GMT 02 Mar 2010
The Telegraph UK
Richard Gross, a Nasa scientist, has worked out that the Earth's rotation should have changed as a result of the Feb. 27 quake.
Using a complex model, he and fellow scientists came up with a preliminary calculation that the earthquake should have shortened the length of an Earth day by about 1.26 microseconds (a microsecond is one millionth of a second).
Mr Gross also calculated that the earthquake should have moved Earth's figure axis by 2.7 milliarcseconds (about 3 inches).
By comparison, Mr 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 2.32 milliarcseconds (about 2.76 inches).
He said that even though the Chilean earthquake was much smaller than the Sumatran quake, it was predicted to have changed the position of the figure axis by a bit more for two reasons.
First, unlike the 2004 Sumatran earthquake, which was located near the equator, the 2010 Chilean earthquake was located in Earth's mid-latitudes, which makes it more effective in shifting Earth's figure axis.
Second, the fault responsible for the 2010 Chiliean earthquake dips into Earth at a slightly steeper angle than does the fault responsible for the 2004 Sumatran earthquake. This makes the Chile fault more effective in moving Earth's mass vertically and hence more effective in shifting Earth's figure axis.
"It's what we call the ice-skater effect," David Kerridge, head of Earth hazards and systems at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh told Bloomberg.
"As the ice skater puts when she's going around in a circle, and she pulls her arms in, she gets faster and faster. It's the same idea with the Earth going around if you change the distribution of mass, the rotation rate changes."
Chile earthquake may have shortened length of Earth's days
The powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile, killing more than 700 people and triggering a tsunami alert, may also have shifted the planet's axis and shortened the length of each Earth day.
Published: 6:30AM GMT 02 Mar 2010
The Telegraph UK
Richard Gross, a Nasa scientist, has worked out that the Earth's rotation should have changed as a result of the Feb. 27 quake.
Using a complex model, he and fellow scientists came up with a preliminary calculation that the earthquake should have shortened the length of an Earth day by about 1.26 microseconds (a microsecond is one millionth of a second).
Mr Gross also calculated that the earthquake should have moved Earth's figure axis by 2.7 milliarcseconds (about 3 inches).
By comparison, Mr 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 2.32 milliarcseconds (about 2.76 inches).
He said that even though the Chilean earthquake was much smaller than the Sumatran quake, it was predicted to have changed the position of the figure axis by a bit more for two reasons.
First, unlike the 2004 Sumatran earthquake, which was located near the equator, the 2010 Chilean earthquake was located in Earth's mid-latitudes, which makes it more effective in shifting Earth's figure axis.
Second, the fault responsible for the 2010 Chiliean earthquake dips into Earth at a slightly steeper angle than does the fault responsible for the 2004 Sumatran earthquake. This makes the Chile fault more effective in moving Earth's mass vertically and hence more effective in shifting Earth's figure axis.
"It's what we call the ice-skater effect," David Kerridge, head of Earth hazards and systems at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh told Bloomberg.
"As the ice skater puts when she's going around in a circle, and she pulls her arms in, she gets faster and faster. It's the same idea with the Earth going around if you change the distribution of mass, the rotation rate changes."
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