Chile Earthquake – Earth Axis Moved and Day Shortened

The Earth’s axis is now 3 inches off from the previous location and the our days are now 1.26 milliseconds short. The 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile last Saturday have changed the earth’s axis and shortened the length of the day, said experts. This finding is not new as previous strong earthquakes did have effects to the axis of the earth.

Chile Earthquake – Earth Axis Changed

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.

The computer model used by Gross and his colleagues to determine the effects of the Chile earthquake effect also found that it should have moved Earth’s figure axis by about 3 inches (8 cm or 27 milliarcseconds).

Strong earthquakes have altered Earth’s days and its axis in the past. The 9.1 Sumatran earthquake in 2004, which set off a deadly tsunami, should have shortened Earth’s days by 6.8 microseconds and shifted its axis by about 2.76 inches (7 cm, or 2.32 milliarcseconds).