Re: pinhole Pinhole: Earth's rotation changed by quake?

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From: Gary Horne (garyhorne@mac.com)
Date: Mon Dec 27 2004 - 12:39:49 PST 

Message-Id: <741710CA-5847-11D9-BED1-000D9366CD04@mac.com>
From: Gary Horne <garyhorne@mac.com>
Subject: Re: pinhole Pinhole: Earth's rotation changed by quake?
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 12:39:49 -0800

I've been trying to figure this out. I checked online and found that
the Kinetic Energy of Earth's rotation is about 2.56 x 10 to the 29
Joules. I heard that the Earthquake was equivalent to 100 atomic
bombs. A typical atomic bomb, according to another website, releases
less than 9 times 10 to the 10 Joules. So 100 atomic bombs would be 9
times 10 to the 12 Joules. That seems pretty negligible when compared
with 2.56 times 10 to the 29, so I think that if it had an effect, it
wouldn't even amount to one second of rotation (which is 1: 3153600
out of a year)

This 8th grade math teacher can't wait for school to start again to
discuss scientific notation and this earthquake!

Gary

On Dec 27, 2004, at 10:23 AM, ASKDRSP@aol.com wrote:

> Hi Paul, Eric and All,
>
> First of all it is devastating for the loss of life caused by the
> tsunamis
> this past weekend and I know this will continue to be a topic of much
> discussion
> in terms of warning systems, etc.
>
> On an earth science point of view, something is being mentioned often
> but
> without explanation on the news ... soooooo:
>
> Can you please explain what the Cal Tech scientists are saying when
> they
> state that the earth's rotation was changed by 8.9 quake that hit on
> Christmas?
> How was the rotation changed, how does this rotation change affect the
> earth
> overall, and what is the best way to explain it to 8th graders?
>
> Thanks so much and hope your holidays are joyous ones,
> Sue Pritchard
>
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