Saturday’s Chile earthquake was so powerful(devastating 8.8 magnitude) that it likely shifted an Earth axis and shortened the length of a day and that it might actually shorten our days on Earth NASA announced Monday.
Don’t worry, we are not going to lose a day or two of each year, but the change is permanent: Each day should be 1.26 microseconds shorter, according to preliminary calculations. A microsecond is one-millionth of a second.When an earthquake hits, it moves a lot of rock under the ground, and this caused the Earth’s axis to slightly shift, which is the cause of the shortening. And the spinning of the earth is how we calculate how long a day is. Scientists use the analogy of a figure skater…as they pull in their arms they spin faster. So, because of Saturday’s rocking of the globe, your day will be 1.26 microseconds shorter.