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Thursday, 30. December 2004

2012, Thursday, 30. December 2004, 13:52
Quake May Have Made Earth Wobble

The deadly Asian earthquake may have permanently accelerated the Earth's rotation, shortening days by a fraction of a second and caused the planet to wobble on its axis

... Richard Gross, a geophysicist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, theorized that a shift of mass toward the Earth's center during the quake Sunday caused the planet to spin 3 microseconds, or millionths of a second, faster and to tilt about an inch on its axis.

... The Earth's poles travel a circular path that normally varies by about 33 feet , so an added wobble of an inch is unlikely to cause long-term effects, he said.

Which means that, in terms of this scientist's theory, a series of greater quakes could make quite an impact on the spin of our planet...

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last updated: 2008.09.21, 05:13