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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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1 posted on 04/04/2011 7:52:15 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Ok, but the real question is: how does this affect the 2012 Mayan Calendar end of the world prediction?!?!

Inquiring minds need to know!!!!!!


2 posted on 04/04/2011 7:56:23 PM PDT by Boogieman
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To: SeekAndFind

Sweet,
that means it will have shortened obama’s time in our white house!


3 posted on 04/04/2011 7:59:05 PM PDT by joesjane ((The strength of the pack is the wolf - Rudyard Kipling))
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To: Boogieman

Before we look at 2012, there is a prediction by a Harold Camping that the world will end on May 21, 2011.

See here :

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/03/may-21-is-judgement-day-harold-campings-latest-doomsday-predic/

That’s barely 1 1/2 months from now.


4 posted on 04/04/2011 8:00:09 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
equivalent to “very, very tiny” changes that won’t be seen for centuries

Yet, the effects of global warming will happen overnite /s
5 posted on 04/04/2011 8:02:17 PM PDT by Son House (Finally, People Lie, Because They Feel If They Tell The Truth, They Won't Get What They Want.)
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To: SeekAndFind
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
6 posted on 04/04/2011 8:03:32 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
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To: SeekAndFind

Please ping this thread on May 22, 2011


7 posted on 04/04/2011 8:08:05 PM PDT by CaptainK (...please make it stop. Shake a can of pennies at it.)
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To: CaptainK

I will if it doesn’t happen :)


8 posted on 04/04/2011 8:09:20 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
Now I have to figure out why it seems to me that this would have an impact on geosynchronous satellites when I'm sure the article would have mentioned that if it were an issue.
9 posted on 04/04/2011 8:09:26 PM PDT by Rashputin (Barry is insane., so handlers keep him medicated and on the golf course.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Darn those japanese!

They always find a way to change our lives!


10 posted on 04/04/2011 8:12:34 PM PDT by Randy Larsen ( BTW, If I offend you! Please let me know, I may want to offend you again!(FR #1690))
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To: SeekAndFind

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.


11 posted on 04/04/2011 8:13:13 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Islam is the religion of Satan and Mohammed was his minion.)
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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,” he said.

Hmmm....I think I have heard something like this in the past....

12 posted on 04/04/2011 8:15:10 PM PDT by Tainan (Cogito Ergo Conservitus.)
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To: SeekAndFind

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...

Of course, Hal Lindsey and few other modern day guessers would have been up for the same sort of apppointments.


13 posted on 04/04/2011 8:24:08 PM PDT by L,TOWM (The Democratic Party Platform: Lies, promulgated by Liars whose only real talent is Lying.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Hot or cold?


14 posted on 04/04/2011 8:26:46 PM PDT by Dallas59 (President Robert Gibbs 2009-2011)
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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.”

Yup. Don’t want to chew through the math here, but the energy needed to do that was about 10,000,000 times the energy that would be released by every nuke on earth going off. And all that energy was released at once in one place.

We’re ants compared to the forces involved.


15 posted on 04/04/2011 8:40:36 PM PDT by piytar (Godwin's rule is null and void. If you don't know what I mean, you aren't paying attention...)
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To: Boogieman

The world already ended back in the 13th century.


16 posted on 04/04/2011 8:46:04 PM PDT by <1/1,000,000th%
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To: SeekAndFind

I knew I put my keys on the table. So that’s how they ended up on the floor.


17 posted on 04/04/2011 9:02:28 PM PDT by He Rides A White Horse ((unite))
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To: SeekAndFind

With the Lord, 1.26 millionths of a second is as 1.26 seconds.

Or something like that.

Just a second....


18 posted on 04/04/2011 9:05:45 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: SeekAndFind

Nothing a couple of well placed wheel weights won’t cure.


19 posted on 04/04/2011 9:07:42 PM PDT by CrazyIvan (What's "My Struggle" in Kenyan?)
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To: SeekAndFind

“Still, according to Rapture doctrine, most people will barely notice that Judgment Day has gone by. That’s because May 21 is, according to Camping, the day when only the righteous will be saved and taken to heaven.”

Yeah, that’s all I need to know to see that Camping needs to study the Bible a lot more.


20 posted on 04/04/2011 9:27:34 PM PDT by Boogieman
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