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Japan quake shifted earth's axis by 25 cm. Earth’s rotation will now shift at a different speed.
National Post ^ | March 2011 | Carmen Chai

Posted on 04/04/2011 7:52:09 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

Initial results out of Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology show that the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that rattled Japan Friday shifted the earth’s rotation axis by about 25 centimetres.

INGV’s report, which came hours after the devastating incident, is equivalent to “very, very tiny” changes that won’t be seen for centuries, though, Canadian geologists say.

Only after centuries would a second be lost as each day is shortened by a millionth of a second, according to University of Toronto geology professor Andrew Miall.

“Ten inches sounds like quite a lot when you hold a ruler in front of you. But if you think of it in terms of the earth as a whole, it’s absolutely tiny; it’s minute,” he said.

“It’s going to make minute changes to the length of a day. It could make very, very tiny changes to the tilt of the earth, which affects the seasons, but these effects are so small, it’d take very precise satellite navigation to pick it up.”

The earth’s rotation will now shift at a different speed because the globe’s mass has been redistributed, said Michael Bostock, a University of B.C. earthquake seismology professor.

He used an analogy of a figure skater pulling in his or her arms to spin faster because weight has been reorganized.

“Ultimately, if you change the length of day, you can change the length of time a given point on earth receives sunlight and doesn’t receive sunlight,” he said. “But will this affect us in our lifetimes? Absolutely not.”

The researchers said that while the minuscule change may be completely undetectable, it still illustrates the punch behind the Japan’s massive earthquake.

Last year, NASA reported that a 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Chile shorted the day by 1.26 millionths of a second, according to computer-model calculations.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Science
KEYWORDS: axis; catastrophism; earthquake; japan; rotation
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Comment #21 Removed by Moderator

To: L,TOWM

“And to think, if we were still under Levitical Law, Harold Camping would have already had two appointments with many many thrown stones in an open field somewhere...”

Hmmm, maybe the Christian soothsayer’s rule is “Let he who really knows the date of the Apocalypse cast the first stone”?


22 posted on 04/04/2011 9:29:35 PM PDT by Boogieman
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To: <1/1,000,000th%

“The world already ended back in the 13th century.”

There are some other FReepers who have assured me it all ended in 70 AD. So confusing...


23 posted on 04/04/2011 9:32:13 PM PDT by Boogieman
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To: CrazyIvan

I was thinking maybe Obama was trying to re-balance the Earth by hammering lead into Libya.


24 posted on 04/04/2011 9:34:15 PM PDT by LachlanMinnesota (Which are you? A producer, a looter, or a moocher of wealth?)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

“How much energy is required to move the earth by that tiny amount? I would posit that it is more energy than has been release by man in the entire history of man.”

Yeah, this is old “news” about this Italian claim. Total nonsense. Which axis? magnetic? actual rotational axis? What shifted? the core? the crust? what?

The crust is so thin compared to the earth’s total volume, that an actual shift of the rotational axis would cause enough energy to be released that the crust would simply come apart at the seams within seconds, producing massive earthquakes and volcanoes that would wipe out practically every living creature except bacteria within a few minutes.

F**king Italian “scientists”. Bleh.


25 posted on 04/04/2011 10:12:14 PM PDT by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Made from the right stuff!)
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To: Boogieman
Ok, but the real question is: how does this affect the 2012 Mayan Calendar end of the world prediction?

Our President is seeing to it that it does not.

26 posted on 04/04/2011 10:18:31 PM PDT by tsowellfan
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To: SeekAndFind

“Only after centuries would a second be lost as each day is shortened by a millionth of a second...”

Which is why they will cut Social Security and make us work longer for less money.


27 posted on 04/04/2011 10:29:36 PM PDT by Beowulf9
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To: Yehuda
All I want to know is how much of a shift do we need to fling jihadis off into space?

Whatever it takes. After all, it's way past time for the sequel!

28 posted on 04/04/2011 10:40:36 PM PDT by Ezekiel (The Obama-nation began with the Inauguration of Desolation.)
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Comment #29 Removed by Moderator

To: Boogieman

Nahh... The stone casting is what ended in 70 AD.


30 posted on 04/05/2011 4:20:48 AM PDT by L,TOWM (The Democratic Party Platform: Lies, promulgated by Liars whose only real talent is Lying.)
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To: SeekAndFind
“Ten inches sounds like quite a lot when you hold a ruler in front of you. But if you think of it in terms of the earth as a whole, it’s absolutely tiny; it’s minute,” she said.

There.

31 posted on 04/05/2011 6:02:54 AM PDT by JRios1968 (Of course Laz would hit it!)
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To: 75thOVI; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AndrewC; aragorn; aristotleman; Avoiding_Sulla; ...

Thanks SeekAndFind.
 
Catastrophism
 
· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe ·
 

32 posted on 04/08/2011 4:04:08 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
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To: SeekAndFind

O no not on my birthday...


33 posted on 04/08/2011 4:47:07 PM PDT by GregB (God sent us Sarah Palin!)
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