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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.
but it doesnt make it fact
Article is useless, and indeed meaningless without the _what_ filled in...
Phil
I guess today is a passable day to die.
"Richard Gross, a geophysicist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, theorized that a shift of mass toward the Earth's center during the quake on Sunday caused the planet to spin 3 microseconds, or 3 millionths of a second, faster and to tilt about an inch on its axis."
3 millionths of a second faster...per year? Per day? Per second? It would seem that that would be critical information left out of this and all other articles I've seen mentioning this change.
It's still hard to wrap my mind around the extent of the disaster.
It also is amazing just how much information we have at our fingertips from cell phones, cameras, the internet, and more. Had this happened twenty years ago, the sense of it would be different.
It's amazing seeing the global impact, and being aware of the global impact. The world is much smaller these days.
I am also heartened to see how the internet has given people information on how to help out. That, too, is different than what we would have faced twenty years ago. Let's hope it makes a difference.
"The Sage treasures Unity and measures all things by it" - Lao Tzu
With the case of the moon, the Earth's rotation is slowed down enough such that on average, the day is lengthened by 15 microseconds every year. At the same time, the moon gets 38 mm further from the Earth over the same period. This is a result of the two bodies being tidally locked (i.e., having synchronized rotations such that one side of the moon is always facing the Earth).
Well, I'm writing this from Chennai/Madras which was hit quite badly (over 3000+ folks were killed from areas here and around).
The problem is that this region has never seen Tsunamis before, and most people were just curious to see what the hell was happening. That made it only worse - a lot of them were morning walkers who were wondering what's up with the sea.
If erudite urban folks are this naive, what can you expect off villagers? Actually, there is a story making the rounds of a guy from Singapore who called up his village and warned them about this, and they all moved to safety and nobody in the village was affected.
The problem is that, it is not enough if you had a warning system -- you would need to know what to do with it. It's not sufficient to warn people, you need to tell them where to go and what to do, too.
That wouldn't be a tidal wave, since it has nothing to do with tides.
I'm not merely being pedantic, I'm fed up with amateurish, downright sloppy "scientific" journalism.
And I've been hearing about this Canary Island thing for about a decade now, I guess given last weeks catastrophe, it's time for the media to dust it off and make a few bucks sowing fear.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
We already do. The first one was in 1972.
My UID is the product of 2 primes.
The U.S. will donate $35 million. Let's see...
$35000000 - amount committed to help victims
100000 - conservative death toll
= $350 - spent to aid each victim
$147000000,000 - spent on war in Iraq
17000 - rough number of Iraqis killed
= $8,647,058 - spent to kill each Iraqi
I'm ashamed to be an American. Call me a troll if you want, but these numbers are sickening.
Well it was enough to move a tetonic plate 80 feet, that means an entire part of the earth's crust shifted 80 feet. If you think about basic physics, for every action there is an equal reaction. We're on a spinning ball, part of the surface of the ball shifts to one side. Suddenly the rate at which the ball is spinning has changed. Makes sense to me to have an effect on the length of a day
And speaking of poor journalism, has anyone else noticed that Fox News has the epicenter of the quake totally wrong? They put it down near the bottom of Sumatra. I saw this on the first day and discounted it as early guesswork, but then I just saw it again last night (12/28), same graphic. I guess they just don't care.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
If you think about it, two to three tsunamis in quick succession (in lessening degrees for each one) might not be out of the question... When the first tsunami is created, it leaves a vacuum behind it. The water being pushed out leaves a "hole" behind it, that needs to be filled... And would likely cause a backsplash effect. The second (and/or third) wouldn't be as drastic as the first, but could still do some hefty damage.
Ripples in a pond. Big ripple, big pond.
Modifying their front page to link to donation sites does not cost them a single penny.
Why are the big companies not offering financial aid? Amazon made record braking money with the X-mas business and Apple reportedly had a good year. BP for example had almost four billion (!) dollars profit (!) last quarter.
Would it hurt to spend a couple of bucks for aid?
But oh wait, this would reduce the sacred shareholder value.
Under certain viewpoints capitalizm sucks.
-silence
Dyslectics of the world, untie!
I read that most people were actually confused when they saw the ocean receding from the beach. They never made the connection between the extremely low tide and the forth coming tsunami.
The people just stood around on the beach watching the water leave the beach, only to see it return as a huge wave.
It's so sad to see such devestation. Please people, go and donate at UNICEF it's the least you can do. I mean, if you saw someone fall and break a leg, would you not stop to help? Since we can't go over to help them, send money.
Live forever, or die trying.
Doesn't Amazon take the biggest cut of any online payments processor for donations? I'd be personally hesitant to donate through Amazon after reading what shareware authors have had to say about them. Amazon should put its money where its mouth is and provide the payment processing for the tsunami relief commission-free.
Now that doesn't mean that the quake can't have changes just because larger recent quakes didn't do anything. In fact we know that massive changes in the Earth have happened before in the more distant past, and I seriously doubt they were from SUVs polluting too much, so it is perfectly possible that there is something special about this quake (other than just its magnitude) that will cause major changes.
Mathematics is made of 50 percent formulas, 50 percent proofs, and 50 percent imagination.
...that you would have preferred that 420,000,000 Iraqis were killed, to bring the cost per kill down to a commensurate $350 level? I guess you'd really be complaining if only one Iraqi died in the whole war. After all, we'd have spent $147 Billion to kill that one Iraqi, right?
THe UK is donating 15 million dollars (after much pressure of the media and the general public).
This is the amount that football teams have paid for some top players in recent years:
Manchester United for Wayne Rooney: 54 million US$.
Manchester United for Rio Ferdinand: 58 million US$.
Real Madrid for David Beckham: 41 million US$.
Something is horribly wrong with this.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
And how much money have you donated?
or close enough to zero that it's discountable.
Yes, it is neglectable. AFAIK one of the few works of man that have changed the angular momentum to some degree are the great dams, e.g. the Hoover dam. Keeping all that water at an higher altitude matters a lot more than a few skyscrapers.
Of course, that too pales in comparison to an earthquake, which moves the tectonic plates themselves. Falling or raising plates moves thousands of meters of rock up and down, creating mountains and oceans. Anything man has built is neglectable compared to that.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
God!
Your post made me mad, really. I've had to make a serious effort to remind myself that I should not fall to easy generalizations. No, most Americans are not like you. Most Americans are actually decent and caring people.
Most Americans just happen to live in the same country as you. I don't even think that the proportion of selfish bastards is higher in the US than in other countries. It's just that, for some reason, selfish bastards are more vocal in the US than elsewhere.
It's OK now, the burst of anger has receded. My faith and respect in the American people is unharmed. I'm even willing to consider that you didn't really think before posting and that you don't really mean that. But do you realize how hard you make it not to hate the US? Do you realize that you're a liability to your country?
It would be nice to be sure of anything the way some people are of everything.
Actually, the Red Cross has been asking for cash more than goods. It's quicker and easier to ship money (done electronicaly) and they can buy the goods closer to the catastrophe. It costs them money to ship out clothing et al, and it's slower.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge"
- Charles Darwin
If you do want to help, donate clothing/water purifiers like Brita more than cash. They atleast go the victims directly.
DO NOT DO THIS!!! Donate cash. Legitimate organizations can spend your money far better than you can. They'll have (access to) locals who will know what's needed. The $10 you spend on a filtered water pitcher (which won't help with bacteria) could go toward a real purifier that several people could use.
Things are cheaper over there, and they'll usually negotiate deals on bulk purchases anyway. Plus, rather than a few bits in a bank's computer, you've caused them to deal with physical items...they have enough logistical problems.
Now, if you (general "you", not freedom_india specifically) are local to the area, quit reading Slashdot and start helping!
...and will do no good. Brita filters, as anyone who's read the label knows, are only good for water that is already safe to drink.
Which goes to the point under discussion: send money to those who know what to do with it.
Mind the Gap
Unfortuantely most people just don't look at the two oceans, especially their underwater attributes.
Both the Pacific and Indian Oceans have very small if non existant shelves. There is simply deep ocean and then land rising up very quickly.
The Atlantic Ocean has a large shelf that protrudes well out to sea on the east coast of the US. This can significantly reduce the effects of Tsunamis (which are the displacemnt of water). Think of it this way, the Tsunami will "break" hundreds of miles out to sea and then flow in to the east coast of the US.
This may mean extremely high tides and localized flooding, but very unlikely to create the situations seen commonly in Japan and this week in SE Asia.
Go do some *BASIC* research and get back to us, eh?
Private donatins and charity and campaigns like this are the kind of feel-good actions that do very little overall. They are usualy short-term campaigns tha collect a few millions than fade into obscurity within a week and bring little long term benefit.
Fast forward a week or two. Amazon may have collected $5-10 million then everyone forgets about the whole deal. It's a perfect setup. Those that give a few bucks get the feeling that they contributed "enough", some people got some help, politicans can take the populistic "sure we are helping through private aid", the private NGOs get they paycheck and got the chance to help _some_ and off couse promote their agenda. And everyone in the western world is happy.
So yes I think private charity like this is insignificant comapred to large initiatives, long term work and state based aid.
So yes I do think Americans are stingy, together with the rest of the rich world. I know because I'm a stingy person myself on this area*. But then again I'm honest enough to admit it.
*For the record I gave less than $100 to the Red Cross yesterday. Should/Could have given much more.
Melius mori in libertate quam vivere in servitute.
If every American gave as much as you did then you'd have collectively raised $30 billion for the relief effort. The UN is estimating they'll only need $5 billion in total.
The problem isn't with you, so don't feel guilty. The problem is with the billions of people worldwide who will donate nothing.
At the risk of sounding socialist (I'm sure I just caused a few Americans to faint from shock) this is why we have mandatory taxes and government aid. Because left to ourselves, we're all a bunch of selfish pricks.
Yourself excluded, of course ;-)
And I hardly see anything in that post that justifies SUVs in there, in fact the only mention of SUVs was a claim that they did not cause the major changes in the Earth's climate millions of years ago. If thats what you call a justification, you have serious problems.
Mathematics is made of 50 percent formulas, 50 percent proofs, and 50 percent imagination.
Using Skype.com software, and a broadband connection, it would have been possible for a single person in the U.S., using SkypeOut, to call telephones in Thailand for an hour for just a few U.S. dollars. Would you save the lives of 5,000 people if it cost only $20 and an hour of your time? Of course!!!!
It is VERY easy to find the phone numbers of hotels and newspapers in Thailand, for example, using Google. Just tell everyone that, if they see the water receding, they have just a few minutes to get to safety.
You are so right. The Earth is far from fragile. I've always had problems with people trying to "Save the Earth." What they are trying to do is Save the Humans. The Earth will be around LOOOONG after we are, but it will probably not be inhabitable by humans as we are today. Since our brief view of Earth during our lifetime makes us see it as a static thing (i.e. it is always rainy in Seattle and Northern Africa will always be a desert), it is incredibly dynamic. This has been one of the scariest things to me (but only during moments of random paranoia). Civilization as we know it today relies on the Earth being a static entity.
Everybody dies frustrated and sad and that is beautiful
All statistics you quote are government-donated funds. They do not take into account donations made from the private sector, companies and individuals. If you take those into account, America dwarfs everyone and leaves France far behind. Some countries tax their citizens more than others. Having grown-up in France, i know for a fact from both my parents that companies and individuals get taxed into oblivion.
Having built my professional life in America, I know I can easily donate to relief organizations without straining my budget too much, and most of the time, write it off on my U.S. taxes, which means money that would otherwise go to the U.S. government now goes to Red Cross, with Uncle Sam's benediction.
In the end, what matters is how much money relief organizations get, and which countries it's coming from. Let's see who's ahead in terms of income percentage.
I gave $250 to redcross via amazon as soon as it went up.
We're not martyrs. We're setting the record straight. And we're here to help.
Salon is here to slander and make sensationalistic headlines. That's what sells. Use grains of salt and don't take everything you read at face value, and most certainly not anything I write. Do your own research.
Extraordinary Vacations. Exceptional Prices
This is not an international dick-waving contest to see who can 'contribute' the most. How about we just help them, OK?
With taxes you have no choice but to "donate". I cannot believe people bitch about Americans not donating enough or being stingy. What a load of shit. They donate with their taxes AND donate freely because they choose to.
The world bitches about Americans getting involved in everything, yet when the world needs help and it arrives from Americans they bitch about them not doing enough.
The U.S. could have done what most other countries did when the twin towers fell and donated absolutely nothing. Even if American tax dollars aren't pumped into this tragedy, their private donations will equate to more than most countries will give.
I don't have a credit card but I'm sitting on a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate that someone gave me. I was hoping to be able to use THAT to make a $25 donation to the American Red Cross (Or, frankly, ANY organization providing relief!) through Amazon.com. After some searching I can't find any way to do it...
So I'm going to use Slashdot to see if I can do the next best thing: I'm willing to give my validation code for a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate to anyone who is willing to MAKE a $25 donation. Seriously. No stings attached here and I suppose, ultimately, that I'll never have any verification that it worked but cynicism is worse than inaction. I'm just a guy with bad credit who still wants to find a way to help.
If you are willing to make that donation, just send me an email (to my email address listed above) and I'll send you the code to the Amazon.com gift certificate -- it is good through 17-Nov-2005.
I would have to say that explosives are the most abused technology in all of history.
An anonymous coward claiming to have a half-million dollar income is now a fact? Get real! I think the odds are rather good that was simply an anonymous liar.
I provided the facts and figures earlier. The US donates less per person than France, and significantly less in total than just the Scandanavian countries.
Stick that in your pipe and smoke it. Idiot, indeed. You just don't like hearing the truth.
I bet any one of the people receiving any sort of benefit from this (food, shelter, medical attention) would beg to differ.
as of now, amazon claims to have collected $2,120,581.09. the us federal government pledged $35 million while the entire eu pledged $4 million. overall, nations pledged "at least $102 million" (see first link). amazon alone has collected over 50% of the eu's pledge and 2% of total aid pledged by all nations. i wonder what the red cross has collected (without amazon), as well as unicef, cidi, etc. i imagine that compared to the $102 million, private collections are NOT insignificant.
if you think that immediate response is insignificant compared to long term initiatives, then you are insane. while long term initiatives are important, people eating TODAY is more important than any long term aid. if you disagree, i challenge you to live out of a destroyed mud hut, drink dirty water and eat only what you find on the side of the road knowing that in a few weeks/months/years things may be better. see how much consilation that is...
Wave upon wave of demented avengers March cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream
If you do want to help, donate clothing/water purifiers like Brita more than cash. They atleast go the victims directly.
Your post is an excellent example of why you should donate cash to organizations who have a good idea what the immediate needs are, rather then donate goods when you don't understand what the problem is.
People have immediate needs for food, medicine and clean drinking drinking water. Clothing comes afterwards. Brita filters are useless against raw sewage, bad chemicals from the flooded factories, and salt water from the ocean.
Clothing may be helpful, but it is more efficient for the clothing to be shipped from the unaffected areas in Asia, where the vast majority of clothing is manufactured anyways.
Even if some of the money is stolen due to corruption, it's better then shipping a ton of plastic water filters to people who can't use them.
94% of Repubs and 21% of Dems voted to renew the Patriot Act
Amazon and Google, among others, have added front-page links to simplify donating to the disaster relief effort.
Perhaps Slashdot could do the same? After all, 80,000 dead and counting definately counds as "Stuff that matters."
OK, so all you tourists in the area with GPS units should take some readings so rescue workers can make adjustments. Post them in the Discuss page on Wikipedia for the earthquake.
That is the preferred way for the United States. It's different than how some other countries handle it, but the numbers, when compared on a "total assistance" basis, rather than being skewed, are certainly favorable to the United States.
Consider this - many people in the United States want *less* government support of even domestic disasters. The private sector handles such events quite capably, with both sufficient funds and resources.
It is not that "US citizens are nicer than the US government" - that distinction is not something that the United States is based on. The citizens *are* the government... our founding documents dictate that the government is "of the people, by the people and for the people". Many citizens prefer that the government take an absolute minimum in taxes and allow the individual to decide how to spend their individual income. Thus, the US government *cannot* match the EU's disaster aid - they aren't taking in the income to be able to. I would guess (and would appreciate somebody checking this) that the EU has a larger available budget to give aid with than the US federal government. The population of the US, however, has more money and gives that in aid.
--
Evan
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
Australia: $1.2bn
p/capita: ~$60
%GDP(PPP): 0.2%
France: $7.3bn
p/capita: ~$120
%GDP(PPP): 0.4%
USA: $16.2bn
p/capita: ~$60
%GDP(PPP): 0.15%
Australia's $1.2B and Americas $16.2B when worked out based on population is roughly the same per person (although australia is better).
o s/ us.htmlb ook/geos/ as.html
US $16.2B / 293M = ~$55 per head
AU $1.2B / 19.9M = ~$60 per head
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ge
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/fact