Earth Days may have Shortened due to Chilean Quake

Earth

Can you imagine? According to Nasa, the Feb. 27 magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile may have shortened the length of each Earth day.

Not only that, but perhaps even more impressive is that the quake actually shifted the Earth’s axis and, relatively speaking, by quite a bit!

Why did this quake have such a global effect when most quakes don’t? A number of things worked together. First of all, it was a very large quake that lasted for a very long time. Next, this quake was located very near the center of the earth making it “easier” to shift the axis. And, finally, the quake was very deep.

Read more about this phenomenon at the Nasa news topics site.

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3 Comments

  1. Interesting facts! Keep sharing your insights.
    Thanks,
    Jim

  2. I think they should reduce the work day accordingly :-)

  3. Oh! Such a good idea! I’ll tell my boss.

 

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