IS IT JUST ME OR DOES THE EARTH SEEM MORE WOBBLY?

[defrog]

ITEM [via NASA]: The magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile may have shifted the Earth’s axis and shortened the length of each Earth day, says JPL research scientist Richard Gross.

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).

Perhaps more impressive is how much the quake shifted 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). Earth’s figure axis is not the same as its north-south axis; they are offset by about 10 meters (about 33 feet).

What does that mean in practical terms? No idea. But it makes a good headline, no?

Anyway, you might want to adjust yr digital watches and compasses, just in case.

I feel the Earth move under my feet,

This is dF

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EDITED TO ADD [08MAR2010]: Or not.

Comments

[thelastaerie.livejournal.com]

damn... why can't the axis shift so we get longer night time? we need some sleep.