Quake in Asia changes the rate of Earth's rotation

[Aki]

The earthquake in Asia has accelerated the Earth's rotation slightly. It has caused the Earth to spin 3 microseconds faster and to tilt about an inch on its axis. Althought this is not very significant and will unlikely cause any long-term effect.

 

Here is the article:

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=IESG1YFI1NHI2CRBAELCFFA?type=scienceNews&storyID=7195443

 

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.