Earthquakes Move the World

[G_j]

http://www.enn.com/lifestyle/article/41091?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EnvironmentalNewsNetwork+%28Environmental+News+Network%29


From: Andy Soos, ENN
Published March 11, 2010 03:56 PM

Earthquakes Move the World


When there is a large earthquake, it basically means that a major geological stress was released. When that happens the earth will literally move. It may not be as dramatic as some motion pictures may show but it does happen. The massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck the west coast of Chile last month moved the entire city of Concepcion at least 10 feet to the west, and shifted other parts of South America as far apart as the Falkland Islands and Fortaleza, Brazil.

These preliminary measurements, produced from data gathered by researchers from four universities and several agencies, including geophysicists on the ground in Chile, paint a much clearer picture of the power behind this temblor, believed to be the fifth most powerful since about 1900.

<snip>
The Chile earthquake was so powerful that it likely shifted the Earth axis and shortened the length of a day, NASA announced earlier this month.

<snip>
For comparison, the same model estimated that the magnitude 9 Sumatra earthquake in December 2004 shortened the length of a day by 6.8 millionths of a second.

The asteroid impact that may have ended the era of the dinosaurs is estimated as the equivalent of a 11.3 on the Richter scale. This is more than 100 times stronger than the 8.8 Chilean earthquake. Imagine how the world would have moved with that impact.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. This stuff is fascinating!

I love geology.

:hi:

[Odin2005]

2. Darwin wrote about how a huge earthquake in Chile rose the shore by several feet...

...when he was studying the local biology and geology. It was a huge inspiration of him.

[one_voice]

3. Ummm...

I just watched the movie 2012, this is scary.

I know, I know, it's just a movie. :-)

[G_j]

4. better start making those plans!

:eyes:


Of course the Mayans never said the world would end, but it was great for a movie, watching the world end from a comfortable seat.

[BeFree]

5. I feel the earth move under my feet...

If the day was shortened then the earth must have sped up a bit because of the quake? If the day were longer it would mean the earth slowed down its spin.

Or maybe the earth sped up a bit and caused the quake?