Earthquake in Chile causes days to be longer

Since the earthquake in Chile in February 2010, the "Höhere Geodäsie" [Advanced Geodesy] research group at the Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) has been helping measure the earth on a global scale. First results indicate that the rotational speed of the earth has become marginally slower and days have become longer by 0.3 microseconds. Shift and deformation of the tectonic plates can be detected significantly Vienna (TU). On 27 February 2010, one of the strongest earthquakes of recent decades (magnitude 8.8) destroyed large parts of Chile's third-largest city Concepción and its surrounding area (see Image 1). At a central location, experts from the TU Vienna Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics have contributed to the important geodetic measurements that were carried out both before and after the earthquake. Highly precise geodetic measurements play an important role in geodesy (the measurement of the earth), in order to observe natural disasters and examine their causes. The measurements make it possible to determine with great accuracy the deformations in the earth's crust and the shifting of the tectonic plates.