My wife told me she had heard that yesterday. I didn't think it was true but here is a report from CNN. Scientists: Quake may have made Earth wobble Wednesday, December 29, 2004 Posted: 2:44 PM EST (1944 GMT) Scientists believe that a shift of mass toward the Earth's center during the quake caused the planet to spin 3 microseconds faster and to tilt about an inch on its axis. RELATED * Tsunami death toll tops 71,000 * Scientists: Quake shifts islands * Special Report: Waves of destruction LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- The deadly Asian earthquake may have permanently accelerated the Earth's rotation, shortening days by a fraction of a second and caused the planet to wobble on its axis, U.S. scientists said Tuesday. 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 Sunday caused the planet to spin 3 microseconds, or millionths of a second, faster and to tilt about an inch on its axis. When one huge tectonic plate beneath the Indian Ocean was forced below the edge of another "it had the effect of making the Earth more compact and spinning faster," Gross said. Gross said changes predicted by his model probably are too minuscule to be detected by a global positioning satellite network that routinely measures changes in Earth's spin, but said the data may reveal a slight wobble. The Earth's poles travel a circular path that normally varies by about 33 feet , so an added wobble of an inch is unlikely to cause long-term effects, he said. "That continual motion is just used to changing," Gross said. "The rotation is not actually that precise. The Earth does slow down and change its rate of rotation." When those tiny variations accumulate, planetary scientists must add a "leap second" to the end of a year, something that has not been done in many years, Gross said. Scientists have long theorized that changes on the Earth's surface such as tide and groundwater shifts and weather could affect its spin but they have not had precise measurements to prove it, Caltech seismologist Hiroo Kanamori said. "Even for a very large event, the effect is very small," Kanamori said. "It's very difficult to change the rotation rate substantially." -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+david.dunn=albertsons.com@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+david.dunn=albertsons.com@mailman.xmissio n.com] On Behalf Of Cynthia Blue Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2004 8:03 AM To: Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Earth Change? Okay... a fellow coworker of mine is stating that he has heard that the Earth's rotation has sped up, and the tilt has changed, because of the earthquake and resulting Tsunami that recently happened. I haven't surfed the web yet looking for facts, but I asked him where he found this info, was it on the Onion? =) Anywhoo... just thought I'd pose the question to you guys. Heard anything? ;) Cyn -- CH Pembroke Faded Glory NA NAJ NAC NAJ TN-N Elsinore Lucilla Aurelius CGC Angel Pumpkin Spice Lady CGC Spirit Chasers Spice http://www.utahdogs.com http://www.cynthiablue.net _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com