Earth gravity changed after Sumatra quake
Pastor Dale Morgan
Study: Earth changed after Sumatra quake*
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've determined
Earth's gravity changed as a result of the giant 2004 Sumatran earthquake.
The discovery marked the first time scientists have used satellite data
to detect changes in the Earth's surface caused by a massive earthquake.
The discovery signifies a new use for data from NASA satellites and
offers a possible new approach to understanding how earthquakes work.
The 9.1-magnitude December 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake in the Indian
Ocean produced a tsunami that killed approximately 250,000 people, while
displacing more than 1 million others.
The event followed the slipping of two continental plates under the
seafloor that raised ocean bed in the region by several feet for
thousands of square miles.
"The earthquake changed the gravity in that part of the world in two
ways that we were able to detect," said Shin-Chan Han, a research
scientist at Ohio State University. He and colleagues determined the
quake triggered the massive uplift of the seafloor, changing the
geometry of the region and altering previous global positioning
satellite measurements of the area. And the density of the rock beneath
the seafloor shifted, producing detectable gravity changes.