Linkupdated 1 hour, 33 minutes ago
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.
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.
© 2010 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.
Chile Earthquake Changed Earth's Rotation
-
- 4 Star Admiral
- Posts: 26014
- Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:58 pm
- Location: Poblacht na hÉireann, Baile Átha Cliath
Chile Earthquake Changed Earth's Rotation
"You've all been selected for this mission because you each have a special skill. Professor Hawking, John Leslie, Phil Neville, the Wu-Tang Clan, Usher, the Sugar Puffs Monster and Daniel Day-Lewis! Welcome to Operation MindFuck!"
- Captain Seafort
- 4 Star Admiral
- Posts: 15548
- Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 1:44 pm
- Location: Blighty
Re: Chile Earthquake Changed Earth's Rotation
Not that surprising, given that the energy release was probably greater than the world's combined nuclear arsenals, simultaneously, in one place.
However, has anyone else spotted this somewhat odd claim?
However, has anyone else spotted this somewhat odd claim?
Winter where?Article wrote: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.
Only two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe: Albert Einstein.
-
- Fleet Admiral
- Posts: 35635
- Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:04 am
- Commendations: The Daystrom Award
- Location: down the shore, New Jersey, USA
- Contact:
Re: Chile Earthquake Changed Earth's Rotation
Yeah, that sounds opposite... unless he meant summer in the southern hemisphere. And, to quote BOC: "History proves again and again/how nature will trump the folly of men."
I can't stand nothing dull
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
- Captain Seafort
- 4 Star Admiral
- Posts: 15548
- Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 1:44 pm
- Location: Blighty
Re: Chile Earthquake Changed Earth's Rotation
What do you mean by "opposite" - the speed of rotation shouldn't change due to the seasons, unless different parts of the planet are rotating at different speeds.Mikey wrote:Yeah, that sounds opposite... unless he meant summer in the southern hemisphere.
Only two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe: Albert Einstein.
-
- Fleet Admiral
- Posts: 35635
- Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:04 am
- Commendations: The Daystrom Award
- Location: down the shore, New Jersey, USA
- Contact:
Re: Chile Earthquake Changed Earth's Rotation
Unless you're measuring the linear velocity of a point on the surface. A point currently in summer will be moving faster than a point of same longitude and greater latitude.
I can't stand nothing dull
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
Re: Chile Earthquake Changed Earth's Rotation
No, the whole planet should be rotating at the same speed, I guess the poles are technically moving faster. But that would be stupidly obvious to state...Mikey wrote:Unless you're measuring the linear velocity of a point on the surface. A point currently in summer will be moving faster than a point of same longitude and greater latitude.
Re: Chile Earthquake Changed Earth's Rotation
Um no. A person on the equator will be rotating faster than a person at the poles (relative to the Earths center of rotation).Nickswitz wrote:No, the whole planet should be rotating at the same speed, I guess the poles are technically moving faster. But that would be stupidly obvious to state...Mikey wrote:Unless you're measuring the linear velocity of a point on the surface. A point currently in summer will be moving faster than a point of same longitude and greater latitude.
No trees were killed in transmission of this message. However, some electrons were mildly inconvenienced.
-
- Fleet Admiral
- Posts: 35635
- Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:04 am
- Commendations: The Daystrom Award
- Location: down the shore, New Jersey, USA
- Contact:
Re: Chile Earthquake Changed Earth's Rotation
Yeah, Stitch is right. Re-read my post - while everywhere on the earth may have the same (or close enough) rotational velocity, the change in the length of a chord parallel to the equator at different latitudes means that the linear velocity of a point is different at different latitudes.Nickswitz wrote:No, the whole planet should be rotating at the same speed, I guess the poles are technically moving faster. But that would be stupidly obvious to state...Mikey wrote:Unless you're measuring the linear velocity of a point on the surface. A point currently in summer will be moving faster than a point of same longitude and greater latitude.
I can't stand nothing dull
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
Re: Chile Earthquake Changed Earth's Rotation
So how many Earthquakes till I can have an extra hour in bed?
"You ain't gonna get off down the trail a mile or two, and go missing your wife or something, like our last cook done, are you?"
"My wife is in hell, where I sent her. She could make good biscuits, but her behavior was terrible."
"My wife is in hell, where I sent her. She could make good biscuits, but her behavior was terrible."
- Captain Seafort
- 4 Star Admiral
- Posts: 15548
- Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 1:44 pm
- Location: Blighty
Re: Chile Earthquake Changed Earth's Rotation
That, however, is purely dependant on latitude, not which season it is. Forty south isn't going to be going any slower or faster that forty north.Mikey wrote:Yeah, Stitch is right. Re-read my post - while everywhere on the earth may have the same (or close enough) rotational velocity, the change in the length of a chord parallel to the equator at different latitudes means that the linear velocity of a point is different at different latitudes.
Only two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe: Albert Einstein.
-
- Fleet Admiral
- Posts: 35635
- Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:04 am
- Commendations: The Daystrom Award
- Location: down the shore, New Jersey, USA
- Contact:
Re: Chile Earthquake Changed Earth's Rotation
OPf course. I just forgot what we had been discussing. Oh yeah! What I meant by "opposite" - beg pardon, I thought the guy was referring to length of daylight, not the actual length of a day. Easy misread on my part, I believe, since length of daylight is the only detectable diurnal change that's dictated by season.
I can't stand nothing dull
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
- Laughing Man
- Ensign
- Posts: 116
- Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2009 11:37 am
Re: Chile Earthquake Changed Earth's Rotation
unless they mean the equatorial diameter changing between solstices changing centripetal or centrifugal (can never tell those apart!) force, because of the tilt in the earths axis and the suns effect on the shape of the earth.
summer axis - - - - - - - - - sun - - - - - - - - -winter axis
(/) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - O - - - - - - - - - - - - (/)
The force on the equator is marginally different (I think!)
summer axis - - - - - - - - - sun - - - - - - - - -winter axis
(/) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - O - - - - - - - - - - - - (/)
The force on the equator is marginally different (I think!)
Heck Is Where People Go Who Don't Believe In Golly!
-
- Fleet Admiral
- Posts: 35635
- Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:04 am
- Commendations: The Daystrom Award
- Location: down the shore, New Jersey, USA
- Contact:
Re: Chile Earthquake Changed Earth's Rotation
There would be greater gravitation from the sun on the summer hemisphere than the winter, but only very marginally.
I can't stand nothing dull
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
Re: Chile Earthquake Changed Earth's Rotation
Michio Kaku Explains The Earth Axis Shift Caused By Chilean Earthquake
Fox News by the way.
Fox News by the way.
"Bible, Wrath of Khan, what's the difference?"
Stan - South Park
Stan - South Park
Re: Chile Earthquake Changed Earth's Rotation
Do we have to prepare for a polar shift now?
Also, in what way was the axis of rotation shifted? As in, would our globe end up standing more straight up or more tilted?
Also, in what way was the axis of rotation shifted? As in, would our globe end up standing more straight up or more tilted?