Image courtesy of NASA
The recent huge earthquake that hit Chile on last Saturday may have shorten the days on Earth. NASA says that the 8.8 magnitude earthquake may have shifted the rotation of the earth’s axis and lost 1.26 milliseconds (0.00126 seconds). The Earth’s balance has shifted about 33 feet off the north-south axis.
When 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake hit (that caused tsunami in Indonesia), the Earth’s balance shifted about 3 inches and lost 6.8 microseconds (0.0068 milliseconds). Even though that earthquake was 9.1 magnitude which is larger than 8.8 magnitude of Chilean earthquake, the location of Chile was the key factor that shifted the Earth greatly.
NASA is continuing to monitor the rotation of the Earth to see if there is any changes in climates.
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