NASA Scientist Thinks Chile Earthquake Shifted Earth's Axis

[Delvis]

he we got a really big earthquake could we jump back in time?

In a theoretical sense yes....but in reality no

 

[Antar Bolaeisk]

he we got a really big earthquake could we jump back in time?

No, this isn't time travel, it just effected the rotation of the Earth with the net result of decreasing the total time necessary to complete 1 rotation. 24 hours is still 24 hours but a day isn't quite as long any more.

 

[Strife212]

Yes.

Stop and think about it for a minute. One earthquake contains enough power to move the freaking planet so that days shorten by 6.8 microseconds. That kind of power is biblical and puts what we humans can make into a cocked hat.

Richter
Approximate Magnitude

7.1

Energy released is equivalent to that of Tsar Bomba (50 megatons, 210 PJ), the largest thermonuclear weapon ever tested

Theres no upper limit to the size of nuclear weapons either, they just stopped making them bigger because there was no point.

 

[DJDaz]

don't know about anyone else but i'm reading it that the 2004 asia quake is the one that shortened the day by 6.8 microseconds.

the chile one just shortened it by 1.26 microseconds

 

[craptakular]

Richter
Approximate Magnitude

7.1

Energy released is equivalent to that of Tsar Bomba (50 megatons, 210 PJ), the largest thermonuclear weapon ever tested

Your from Lowestoft too? Thats 3 of us I have seen on here... true story.

 

[LordSplodge]

Exactly, if an earthquake can do that level of change, just imagine there could be the possibility for a future massive earthquake that could do all sorts of un-told change to our planet.

...and if we can tap the power in Earthquakes... profit!

 

[Strife212]

Your from Lowestoft too? Thats 3 of us I have seen on here... true story.

Seems like a bizzare place to have so many OcUKer's from

Well, 3 is hardly "so many" I suppose

 

[Building Candy]

Yes.

Stop and think about it for a minute. One earthquake contains enough power to move the freaking planet so that days shorten by 6.8 microseconds. .............

a minute!!! you must be joking im running round still trying to make up for the 6.8 microseconds I am late

 

[Naffa]

Damn, I could sense that my watch was running about seven micro seconds.... It drives me insane, knowing how things work.

 

[Tefal]

Damn, I could sense that my watch was running about seven micro seconds.... It drives me insane, knowing how things work.

Just bash a lazy persons head in with a cpu cooler that'll teach you how to take time to relax

 

[G-MAN2004]

Even if it is a very insignificant amount of time, it is somewhat amazing to think about.

 

[Antar Bolaeisk]

don't know about anyone else but i'm reading it that the 2004 asia quake is the one that shortened the day by 6.8 microseconds.

the chile one just shortened it by 1.26 microseconds

Yes, that's what it says.

If the planet's axis did shift by 8cm during the [Chile] quake, days would have shortened by 1.26 microseconds, Mr Gross calculated.

The 2004 quake in Asia, which killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused the Earth to move by around 7cm.

It chopped an estimated 6.8 microseconds off the length of a day, Nasa said.

People just latched onto the 6.8 microseconds as it was in the op and it's an easier number to wrap your head around than 1.26 microseconds.

 

[antijoke]

I was a bit ambiguous with the time that was lost in the 2004 earthquake and the one in Chile, sorry.

 

[Antar Bolaeisk]

I was a bit ambiguous with the time that was lost in the 2004 earthquake and the one in Chile, sorry.

So you should be! Here was me panicking at losing 6.8 microseconds everyday when there's little enough time as it is when in fact I've only lost 1.26 microseconds, a loss which I can just about live with.

 

[Tomsk]

6.8 microseconds!
We'll have to overclock more to compensate!

 

[Curunen]

Even if it is a very insignificant amount of time, it is somewhat amazing to think about.

Indeed.

 

[dbmzk1]

Richter
Approximate Magnitude

7.1

Energy released is equivalent to that of Tsar Bomba (50 megatons, 210 PJ), the largest thermonuclear weapon ever tested

Theres no upper limit to the size of nuclear weapons either, they just stopped making them bigger because there was no point.

This earthquake was not 7.1 though, it was 8.8. As per your list on Wiki that's 15.8 gigatons. That's 316 times more powerful than your 7.1 example. Nuclear weapons couldn't ever be that made that powerful.

 

[jak731]

Yes.

Stop and think about it for a minute. One earthquake contains enough power to move the freaking planet so that days shorten by 6.8 microseconds. That kind of power is biblical and puts what we humans can make into a cocked hat.

Actually humans have also altered the rotation speed of the earth. All the dams we have built have increased the rotation rate by more than this earthquake

Nasa geophysicist Dr. Benjamin Fong Chao found evidence that large dams cause changes to the earth's rotation, because of the shift of water weight from oceans to reservoirs. Because of the number of dams which have been built, the Earth's daily rotation has apparently sped up by eight-millionths of a second since the 1950s. Chao said it is the first time human activity has been shown to have a measurable effect on the Earth's motion.

Source.

I think there is something like 3 times as much water in all our dams as there is in all rivers.

 

[Combat squirrel]

True story. Apparently.

Full Story

So if you feel there just isn't enough time in the day, you now know why, as it could've lost us 6.8 microseconds.

Or 8.06 microseconds since 2004 if you read the article correctly

 

[jamie2497]

So how much time have we lost in total when we combine all the earthquakes that have ever happened?