Another hit for the Cassiopaeans? Earth rotation slowing down

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Upsurge in big earthquakes predicted for 2018 as Earth rotation slows
Scientists say number of severe quakes is likely to rise strongly next year because of a periodic slowing of the Earth’s rotation
A child on a collapsed building at Darbandikhan, Sulaymaniyah, Iraq on Monday after northern Iraq and Iran were hit by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake.
A child on a collapsed building at Darbandikhan, Sulaymaniyah, Iraq on Monday after the north of the country and northern Iran were hit by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
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Robin McKie
Saturday 18 November 2017 22.00 GMT Last modified on Saturday 18 November 2017 22.25 GMT
Scientists have warned there could be a big increase in numbers of devastating earthquakes around the world next year. They believe variations in the speed of Earth’s rotation could trigger intense seismic activity, particularly in heavily populated tropical regions.

Although such fluctuations in rotation are small – changing the length of the day by a millisecond – they could still be implicated in the release of vast amounts of underground energy, it is argued.

The link between Earth’s rotation and seismic activity was highlighted last month in a paper by Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado in Boulder and Rebecca Bendick of the University of Montana in Missoula presented at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America.

“The correlation between Earth’s rotation and earthquake activity is strong and suggests there is going to be an increase in numbers of intense earthquakes next year,” Bilham told the Observer last week.

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
Read more
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 researchers searched to find correlations between these periods of intense seismic activity and other factors and discovered that when Earth’s rotation decreased slightly it was followed by periods of increased numbers of intense earthquakes. “The rotation of the Earth does change slightly – by a millisecond a day sometimes – and that can be measured very accurately by atomic clocks,” said Bilham.

It is straightforward. The Earth is offering us a five-year heads-up on future earthquakes
Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado in Boulder
Bilham and Bendick found that there had been periods of around five years when Earth’s rotation slowed by such an amount several times over the past century and a half. Crucially, these periods were followed by periods when the numbers of intense earthquakes increased.

“It is straightforward,” said Bilham. “The Earth is offering us a five-year heads-up on future earthquakes.”

This link is particularly important because Earth’s rotation began one of its periodic slowdowns more than four years ago. “The inference is clear,” said Bilham. “Next year we should see a significant increase in numbers of severe earthquakes. We have had it easy this year. So far we have only had about six severe earthquakes. We could easily have 20 a year starting in 2018.”

Exactly why decreases in day length should be linked to earthquakes is unclear although scientists suspect that slight changes in the behaviour of Earth’s core could be causing both effects.

In addition, it is difficult to predict where these extra earthquakes will occur – although Bilham said they found that most of the intense earthquakes that responded to changes in day length seemed to occur near the equator. About one billion people live in the Earth’s tropical regions.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/18/2018-set-to-be-year-of-big-earthquakes
 
Indeed. I brought this up as a case in point in the "Hyperdimensional Politics" thread which should be read by everyone.
 
Earth's rotation speed also mentioned again on April 15, 2000:

Q: (L) When you described it this way, you were talking about everything "opening
up." You mentioned that if the earth's rotation were to slow, even a minute bit, that
everything "opens up" gravitationally speaking. But, this seems to be connected to
solar activity, and no so much the speed of the earth.
A: The solar and earth activities are interconnected.
 
In the news today:

NASA bombshell: Earth’s rotation is slowing - and it could cause major earthquakes

Of course they may be wide of the mark for the reason, nonetheless they are considering the possible consequences. NASA bombshell: Earth’s rotation is slowing - and it could cause major earthquakes

From February 22, 1997:

A: Climate is being influenced by three factors, and soon a fourth.
Q: (L) All right, I'll take the bait; give me the three factors, and also the fourth!.
A: 1) Wave approach. 2) Chlorofluorocarbon increase in atmosphere, thus affecting ozone layer. 3) Change in the planet's axis rotation orientation. 4) Artificial tampering by 3rd and 4th density STS forces in a number of different ways. Be vigilant. Be
observant. Be cautious in your planning and be aware. Do not let emotional anomalies cloud your knowledge base. This is not a "time" to let one's guard down. Be especially careful of travel to unfamiliar locators, as well as sleeping in unfamiliar
surroundings!!! You are being watched. Or, at least, it is best to assume you are, and act, think, and prepare accordingly. Remember what you have been warned about concerning attack. As you learn more and know more, you become more interesting...
and, when your ranks swell, you are more vulnerable unless you are more aware!!
Q: (L) All right, were those given in the order in which they are occurring? The fourth being the one that's coming later?
A: Maybe, but remember this: a change in the speed of the rotation may not be reported while it is imperceptible except by instrumentation. Equator is slightly "wider" than the polar zones. But, this discrepancy is decreasing slowly currently. One change to
occur in 21st Century is sudden glacial rebound, over Eurasia first, then North America. Ice ages develop much, much, much faster than thought. [Discussion of new scientific theory recently presented that the earth is expanding.]
Q: (T) Is the Earth expanding? That's just putting it bluntly, but, is the Earth expanding, how did you put that? (Ark) Yes, that's the theory: the idea is that the continents move away because the Earth is expanding, and this is much faster than you know, than
geologists were thinking.
A: Continental "drift" is caused by the continual though variable, propelling of gases from the interior to the surface, mainly at points of magnetic significance.
Q: (J) What causes the change in the axis?
A: By slow down of rotation. Earth alternately heats up and cools down in interior.
Q: (L) Why does it do that? What's the cause of this?
A: Part of cycle related to energy exerted upon surface by the frequency resonance vibrational profile of humans and others.
Click to expand...
 
Study confirms the rotation of Earth's inner core has slowed

University of Southern California scientists have proven that the Earth's inner core is backtracking—slowing down—in relation to the planet's surface, as shown in new research published in Nature.

Movement of the inner core has been debated by the scientific community for two decades, with some research indicating that the inner core rotates faster than the planet's surface. The new USC study provides unambiguous evidence that the inner core began to decrease its speed around 2010, moving slower than the Earth's surface.

"When I first saw the seismograms that hinted at this change, I was stumped," said John Vidale, Dean's Professor of Earth Sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. "But when we found two dozen more observations signaling the same pattern, the result was inescapable. The inner core had slowed down for the first time in many decades. Other scientists have recently argued for similar and different models, but our latest study provides the most convincing resolution."

The relativity of backtracking and slowing down

The inner core is considered to be reversing and backtracking relative to the planet's surface due to moving slightly slower instead of faster than the Earth's mantle for the first time in approximately 40 years. Relative to its speed in previous decades, the inner core is slowing down.

The inner core is a solid iron-nickel sphere surrounded by the liquid iron-nickel outer core. Roughly the size of the moon, the inner core sits more than 3,000 miles under our feet and presents a challenge to researchers: It can't be visited or viewed. Scientists must use the seismic waves of earthquakes to create renderings of the inner core's movement.

A new take on a repetitive approach

Vidale and Wei Wang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences utilized waveforms and repeating earthquakes in contrast to other research. Repeating earthquakes are seismic events that occur at the same location to produce identical seismograms.

In this study, the researchers compiled and analyzed seismic data recorded around the South Sandwich Islands from 121 repeating earthquakes that occurred between 1991 and 2023. They have also utilized data from twin Soviet nuclear tests between 1971 and 1974, as well as repeated French and American nuclear tests from other studies of the inner core.

Vidale said the inner core's slowing speed was caused by the churning of the liquid iron outer core that surrounds it, which generates Earth's magnetic field, as well as gravitational tugs from the dense regions of the overlying rocky mantle.

The impact on the Earth's surface

The implications of this change in the inner core's movement for Earth's surface can only be speculated. Vidale said the backtracking of the inner core may alter the length of a day by fractions of a second: "It's very hard to notice, on the order of a thousandth of a second, almost lost in the noise of the churning oceans and atmosphere."

The USC scientists' future research aspires to chart the trajectory of the inner core in even greater detail to reveal exactly why it is shifting.

"The dance of the inner core might be even more lively than we know so far," Vidale said.

phys.org

Study confirms the rotation of Earth's inner core has slowed

University of Southern California scientists have proven that the Earth's inner core is backtracking—slowing down—in relation to the planet's surface, as shown in new research published in Nature.
phys.org phys.org
Click to expand...
 
I missed that news on SOTT.

One thing that got me confused is that there are both news about Earth spinning faster and slower in recent years. And this article explains that both are true: Earth Slows Down, but Remains Unpredictable
Some historical record here: How Long Is a Day on Earth?

It indicates that Earth was spinning particularly fast around the year 1870, and particularly slow around the start of the 1900s.
Click to expand...

And here you can see how the length of day oscillates over time: Intradecadal variations in length of day and their correspondence with geomagnetic jerks - Nature Communications

So in 2022 days were shortest, and now they are going to be longer every year up to the next maximum.
 
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