The massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake that shook Japan and triggered a powerful tsunami on Friday has had a profound effect on both the surrounding terrain and the planet as a whole.Okay, so the earthquake cannot be tied to climate change directly. Or is it just Mother Earth trying to cure itself?
Dr. Daniel McNamara, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, told The Huffington Post that the disaster left a gigantic rupture in the sea floor, 217-miles long and 50 miles wide. It also shifted Japan's coast by eight feet in some parts, though McNamara was quick to explain much of the coast likely didn't move as far.
The enormous tremor also shifted the Earth's axis. According to CNN, the earthquake moved the planet's axis approximately 4 inches.
Conflicting figures aside, a shift in the Earth's axis wouldn't be noticeable. Last year's 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile, which also reportedly moved the planet's axis slightly, only resulted in shortening the day by 1.26 microseconds. (A microsecond is one-millionth of a second.)
As for any claims that the earthquake somehow relates to climate change, McNamara didn't hesitate to dismiss that connection. He explained that while evidence shows melting glaciers can cause small tremors directly underneath as their weight on the Earth's crust reduces, what happened in Japan "is not connected in any way to that process."
The axis tilt is the amazing thing. I really don't care about the lengthening days. Any shift, as well as previous shifts affecting airport runways, is significant and may be a sign of things to come.
Is this the shift of 2012?
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