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Quake Changes Earth's Rotation, Moves Islands

kernel panic attack writes "This week's deadly Asian Quake and Tsunami may have been so powerful, that it changed the rate of Earth's rotation. In a Reuters article, a NASA geophysicist theorizes that the quake compacted the Earth enough to speed up the planet's rotation by 3 microseconds. A second article says the quake moved undersea tectonic plates by up to 98 feet, shifting islands near Sumatra out to sea an unknown distance. Also, a USGS team wants images from commercial satellite operators to help pinpoint coastline damage. Lastly, an interesting article from the Australian Spaceguard Survey about the need for a Tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean. The author comments that tsunami warnings may not help much, as people often flock to the coastline to see the giant waves." The current estimated death toll is now nearly 70,000; Amazon and Google, among others, have added front-page links to simplify donating to the disaster relief effort.

6 of 917 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Rotation by justkarl · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm not surprised that it sped up the rotation by 3 microseconds(not much), but I'm wondering if this really has any secondary effect on the planet. Like "The Day After Tomorrow"-like effects. And I don't mean special effects laced with bad screenwriting.

  2. Re:Makes me wonder by Timesprout · · Score: 5, Funny

    Only a fool would try to fly by pulling their hair upwards. Everyone knows you have to throw yourself at the ground and miss to fly.

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  3. 3 microseconds less? by Woogiemonger · · Score: 4, Funny

    As if there wasn't too little time in the day already.

  4. Re:Apple Too by stupidfoo · · Score: 5, Funny

    F'en stingy Americans! How dare you raise millions and millions of dollars privately!?! Clearly your taxes are too low!

  5. Re:What is the impact? by Epistax · · Score: 5, Funny

    On the GPS?

    You press the degauss button. It'll look funny for a few seconds but then it'll click and be fine.

  6. Re:Donate some money! by dmccarty · · Score: 4, Funny
    No man is an island [...]

    But if one were, he'd be about 100 feet farther away now.

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