Chile Earthquake Has Shifted The Earth’s Axis

We’ve all heard about the size of the earthquake in Chile last week, but a new finding takes it to new levels: the Chile earthquake has shifted the Earth’s axis.

According to NASA scientists, the quake shifted the axis of the earth by about 3 inches (7.6 cms), which might not seem like a lot, but given the size of this planet we live on, is rather remarkable.

The good news is the shift isn’t about to cause a Roland Emmerich like end of days scenario or affect the seasons or weather, but it will shorten every day by 1.26 microseconds.

NASA explained that the key to the shift was due to the location of the quake, with the fault slicing through Earth at a steeper angle, making “the Chile fault more effective in moving Earth’s mass vertically and hence more effective in shifting Earth’s figure axis.”