EarthQuake In Chile Shakes Up The Length Of Day

Does the day suddenly feel shorter to you?  Do you feel like things have begun to move even faster?  Well, there is a scientific explanation of these feelings from NASA. 

The recent 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile means that the earth is now rotating faster and the day has shortened by one millionth of a second. The earthquake has also moved the earth's axis by about three inches.

Earth Rotating Faster And A Shorter Day

NASA research scientist (Jet Propulsion Lab) Richard Gross computed how Earth's rotation has changed as a result of the Feb. 27 quake in Chile.

Using a complex model, he and fellow scientists came up with a preliminary calculation that the quake should have shortened the length of an Earth day by about 1.26 microseconds (a microsecond is one millionth of a second) by making the earth rotate faster.

An earthquake can make Earth rotate faster by nudging some of its mass closer to the planet's axis, just as ice skaters can speed up their spins by pulling in their arms.

In addition, the quake appears to have shifted the Earth's axis. Gross calculates the quake should have moved Earth's figure axis (the axis about which Earth's mass is balanced) by 2.7 milliarcseconds (about 8 centimeters, or 3 inches).

eWorldvu.com

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