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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.

4 of 917 comments (clear)

  1. Makes me wonder by lordsilence · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    if this will have any affect on the asteroid 2004MN4 course, related to the earth.

  2. Re:Darwin is everywhere! by doppleganger871 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I suppose, to a smaller extent, it would help lower crime rates if this was also done at all NBA games.

  3. Re:Rotation by Lord+Ender · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    You really shouldn't claim to on the trademark on the phrase "Digital Millenium Copyright Act" because that would be a fraudulent claim. And if it is supposed to be a joke, it's not funny because the C in DMCA is Copyright, not Trade Mark.

    --
    A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
  4. What happens if an earth quake moves Greenwich? by stry_cat · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Alright this slightly off topic, but I want to know.
    What happens if an earthquake moves Greenwich? Does 0 degrees longitude (and thus everything else) move with it?