Chile 'Quake Likely Shortened the Day by 1.26 Microseconds
Monday, March 1, 2010 - 16:56
in Earth & Climate
The 8.8 magnitude seismic shock that rocked Chile over the weekend likely also rocked the Earth's axis, shifting the planet's mass enough to shave 1.26 microseconds (millionths of a second) from the day, a NASA scientist said. But that's nothing; the magnitude 9.1 Sumatran ‘quake that spawned the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 trimmed 6.8 microseconds from the day.