The 8.8 Earthquake in Chile tilted Earth's axis,shorter days

Discuss Astronomy, Geology and other related subjects like Earthquakes, Volcanos, Tsunami's and other Natural events around the world.

Moderator: S2k Moderators

Message
Author
User avatar
cycloneye
Admin
Admin
Posts: 142552
Age: 68
Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2002 10:54 am
Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico

The 8.8 Earthquake in Chile tilted Earth's axis,shorter days

#1 Postby cycloneye » Tue Mar 02, 2010 4:55 pm

I didn't know in what forum I post this but I think in this forum is not a bad place.

Wow,the earth's axis tilted a little.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... AUn4Gy92ss

The massive 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile may have changed the entire Earth's rotation and shortened the length of days on our planet, a NASA scientist said Monday.

The quake, the seventh strongest earthquake in recorded history, hit Chile Saturday and should have shortened the length of an Earth day by 1.26 milliseconds, according to research scientist Richard Gross at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

"Perhaps more impressive is how much the quake shifted Earth's axis," NASA officials said in a Monday update.
0 likes   
Visit the Caribbean-Central America Weather Thread where you can find at first post web cams,radars
and observations from Caribbean basin members Click Here

serenata09
Tropical Storm
Tropical Storm
Posts: 166
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 7:55 pm
Location: Dallas, TX

Re: The 8.8 Earthquake in Chile tilted Earth's axis,shorter days

#2 Postby serenata09 » Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:14 pm

So what short term/long term effects does this have on the earth's/U.S. climate?
0 likes   

User avatar
cycloneye
Admin
Admin
Posts: 142552
Age: 68
Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2002 10:54 am
Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Re: The 8.8 Earthquake in Chile tilted Earth's axis,shorter days

#3 Postby cycloneye » Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:19 pm

serenata09 wrote:So what short term/long term effects does this have on the earth's/U.S. climate?


I think is too early to know about any impact on the climate.I guess the scientists will make many studies to see what impacts may occur to make more precise conclusions about any implications on the climate.
0 likes   
Visit the Caribbean-Central America Weather Thread where you can find at first post web cams,radars
and observations from Caribbean basin members Click Here

User avatar
somethingfunny
ChatStaff
ChatStaff
Posts: 3926
Age: 36
Joined: Thu May 31, 2007 10:30 pm
Location: McKinney, Texas

Re: The 8.8 Earthquake in Chile tilted Earth's axis,shorter days

#4 Postby somethingfunny » Wed Mar 03, 2010 12:11 am

I heard the same thing happened after the 9.0 Indian Ocean earthquake in 2004. We're talking about tiny microfractions of seconds here...not enough to notice except with the most precise laser instruments. Any effects on the length of our days, orbit, weather...would take many millennia to accumulate enough to be perceptible, at least that's what I think.
0 likes   

User avatar
Aslkahuna
Professional-Met
Professional-Met
Posts: 4550
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2003 5:00 pm
Location: Tucson, AZ
Contact:

Re: The 8.8 Earthquake in Chile tilted Earth's axis,shorter days

#5 Postby Aslkahuna » Wed Mar 03, 2010 11:58 pm

Also had similar results from the 1960 9.5 in Chile and the 9.2 in AK in 1964 though it took longer to discover.

Steve
0 likes   

User avatar
x-y-no
Category 5
Category 5
Posts: 8359
Age: 64
Joined: Wed Aug 11, 2004 12:14 pm
Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL

Re: The 8.8 Earthquake in Chile tilted Earth's axis,shorter days

#6 Postby x-y-no » Thu Mar 04, 2010 10:09 am

serenata09 wrote:So what short term/long term effects does this have on the earth's/U.S. climate?


Essentially none. While it's interesting that this had ameasurable effect on the axis and on the length of the day, the change is minuscule.
0 likes   

User avatar
KWT
Category 5
Category 5
Posts: 31414
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2004 11:02 am
Location: UK!!!

#7 Postby KWT » Thu Mar 04, 2010 10:17 am

Yeah it would take many thousands of these types of earthquakes to make any real difference, still I suppose over many thousands of years there could be some cumulative change?
0 likes   
Personal Forecast Disclaimer:
The posts in this forum are NOT official forecast and should not be used as such. They are just the opinion of the poster and may or may not be backed by sound meteorological data. They are NOT endorsed by any professional institution or storm2k.org. For official information, please refer to the NHC and NWS products

User avatar
Chacor
Category 5
Category 5
Posts: 10229
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 10:43 pm
Location: Singapore

#8 Postby Chacor » Thu Mar 04, 2010 10:50 am

Not really; in one thousand years the earth would only have lost less than three seconds. It would take many thousands of millenia.
0 likes   

User avatar
Aslkahuna
Professional-Met
Professional-Met
Posts: 4550
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2003 5:00 pm
Location: Tucson, AZ
Contact:

Re: The 8.8 Earthquake in Chile tilted Earth's axis,shorter days

#9 Postby Aslkahuna » Fri Mar 05, 2010 6:41 pm

The Earth loses several seconds per Century due to tidal friction from the Moon. That is why we have the occasional "Leap Second" at the end of a year.

Steve
0 likes   

User avatar
vbhoutex
Storm2k Executive
Storm2k Executive
Posts: 29049
Age: 73
Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2002 11:31 pm
Location: Cypress, TX
Contact:

Re: The 8.8 Earthquake in Chile tilted Earth's axis,shorter days

#10 Postby vbhoutex » Sat Mar 06, 2010 5:40 pm

Is there any good explanation why the tsunamis were fortunately much less than expected in most areas except of course closest to the epicenter? I would have expected(not that I know that much about tsunamis) much more than we saw even though I still found the tidal surges in Hawaii amazing. thank goodness we didn't have massive tsunamis all across th ePacific basin.
0 likes   
Skywarn, C.E.R.T.
Please click below to donate to STORM2K to help with the expenses of keeping the site going:
Image

User avatar
Aslkahuna
Professional-Met
Professional-Met
Posts: 4550
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2003 5:00 pm
Location: Tucson, AZ
Contact:

Re: The 8.8 Earthquake in Chile tilted Earth's axis,shorter days

#11 Postby Aslkahuna » Sat Mar 06, 2010 10:43 pm

They also arrived somewhat later than expected and I suspect that the delay in arrival and the lower heights are related. Also, the uplift may have been less and in the wrong direction compared to 1960 which would have sent the most wave energy into the Chilean coast and less into the open Pacific.

Steve
0 likes   

User avatar
Cyclenall
Category 5
Category 5
Posts: 6660
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:01 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: The 8.8 Earthquake in Chile tilted Earth's axis,shorter days

#12 Postby Cyclenall » Sun Mar 07, 2010 6:01 pm

I heard that exact same thing with the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake which was 9.2 or 9.3. It's like every earthquake above 8.5 does this to the earth.

vbhoutex wrote:Is there any good explanation why the tsunamis were fortunately much less than expected in most areas except of course closest to the epicenter? I would have expected(not that I know that much about tsunamis) much more than we saw even though I still found the tidal surges in Hawaii amazing. thank goodness we didn't have massive tsunamis all across th ePacific basin.


That's because it never happens to begin with. When was the last time you heard of a Pacific wide Tsunami event comparable to the destructiveness of the 2004 Tsunami? The answer is never. I believe it will take something much more different to cause something like that since not even the strongest earthquake ever recorded (May 22, 1960 Chile 9.5 quake) caused catastrophic destruction in dozens of Pacific counties. Yes, it did cause severe damage in a few areas like Hilo Hawaii, parts of California, Japan (Where there were 140 deaths) and possibly a few other areas. When the media was reporting a doomsday tsunami was probably going to happen I thought it probably won't since their predictions sounded far to absurd (40 feet high?). The forecasting of these is not that great since they don't occur very often.
0 likes   


Return to “Astronomy and Geology”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests