Slowing down of Earth’s Rotation Speed could deter massive earthquakes in 2018

NewsBharati    21-Nov-2017
Total Views |

Colorado, November 21: Few days ago earthquake of around 6.9 struck at the Indo-China border, prior to that even Mexico got hit by the worst earthquake this time with magnitude of around 8.2! Scientists have observed the reason behind this increasing numbers of earthquakes this year. The reason is ‘Speed of Earth’s Rotation’. 

Scientists Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado at Boulder and Rebecca Bendick of the University of Montana in Missoula conducted a study that found there have been five periods when larger earthquakes were significantly more frequent than at other times. The study found that in these five periods there were between 25 and 30 intense earthquakes per year compared to 15 per year in normal periods. A correlation was found between these periods and periods when the Earth’s rotation slowed slightly. Each time the rotation slowed, Earthquakes increased.

In their study, Bilham and Bendick looked at earthquakes of magnitude 7 and greater that had occurred since 1900. “Major earthquakes have been well recorded for more than a century and that gives us a good record to study,” said Bilham. The bangs, crackles and hums of Earth's seismic orchestra.

They found five periods when there had been significantly higher numbers of large earthquakes compared with other times. “In these periods, there were between 25 to 30 intense earthquakes a year,” said Bilham. “The rest of the time the average figure was around 15 major earthquakes a year.”

The coming year 2018 will witness around 25-30 earthquakes due to slowing speed of Earth’s rotation. Scientists have warned that the number of serious earthquakes could increase next year as variations in the speed of Earth’s rotation lead to more intense seismic activity. These earthquakes are going to be particularly bad in heavily populated tropical regions. The slowing of the Earth’s rotation is slight and changes the length of the day by milliseconds according to scientists. The scientists said that most of these earthquakes resulting from the slowing of the Earth tend to happen along the equator.