March 04 2010
NASA tells us the earth has moved three inches on its "figure axis" as a result of the Chile earthquake - enough to shorten the length of a day by an apparently minuscule one millionth of a second.
Earthquakes - Cumulative Effects
The circumference of the earth at the equator is 24,901.55 miles (40,075.16 kilometers). Measured through the poles it is a bit shorter - 24,859.82 miles (40,008 km).
Due to the number of McDonalds burger bars on its surface (just joking), the mass of the Earth is 6,000,000,000, 000,000,000, 000,000 kilograms.
Now that is a very heavy top to be spinning around its own axis at over 1000 miles per hour (1,670 kph) while also traveling through space at approximately 62,000 miles an hour (100,000km/h) to cover a distance of close to 93 million miles (150,000,000 km) a year in its orbit around the sun.
And a few days ago, it wobbled off its axis by about three inches.
No cause for alarm says David Kerridge, the head of the British Geological Survey. It will have “no particular consequence on anything.” Really?
The 2004 magnitude 9.1 Sumatran earthquake also shortened the length of day and shifted Earth's axis by about 7 centimeters, or 2.76 inches. So that's just two big earthquakes, and a shift of close to 6 inches - all within five years.
Looking further back, the massive 1960 earthquake off the coast of Chile shifted the local landscape by 20 meters, and a quake in Alaska in 1964 pushed islands higher and sank oyster beds 12 meters under the surface.
We simply cannot afford to ignore the possible cumulative effects of these things.
Would the Chile earthquake have been so severe if the Sumatra earthquake and tilt hadn't already added additional stress to the tectonic plates alongside Chile? And now that the tilt has moved even further, what does that say about the future?
Consider this: Continual aftershocks in Chile. A Mag 6.1 offshore today, and a Mag 6.4 in Taiwan. We're not scientists here, but we do feel concerned that if we get more of these mega-quakes (which we should all expect to happen at any time) then we can expect even more tsunamis, more destruction, and more loss of life.
The mainstream media always talks about the economic costs of such events, plucking numbers out of the air to tell us insurers have to cover losses amounting to about $8 billion. And it will take years to rebuild - which is the case wherever an earthquake strikes.
But we look at these things from a personal level. How will we (that means you) cope in similar circumstances? If you're on the freeway and you're lucky enough to survive the collapse of a bridge or overpass, do you have your emergency kit in the trunk?
Do you have any medical training so you can deal with injuries - either to yourself or others who may need immediate assistance?
Remember - earthquakes bring traffic to a standstill, so first responders and emergency services can not travel or reach the injured as quickly as they would under normal circumstances.
In Chile today, soldiers are trying to prevent looting - and neighborhoods have set up barricades to protect themselves from wandering gangs of desperate survivors.
All this underscores the inherent dangers of living in cities surrounded by high rise buildings and people who will be without food water and shelter in a matter of minutes after an earthquake strikes.
Preparedness (prepping) is something we'll continue to stress, in the sincere hope that these events will spur everyone on to really thinking very hard about their own situation. Hard enough to ask what lifestyle changes might be necessary, and what is the best way to be prepared for such emergencies.
None of us can predict who will survive, but surely we all know that aside from pure chance or luck, those who are best prepared for emergencies are those who have the best chance of survival.
You need to be a member of Earthchangers College to add comments!
Replies