The 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Chile on February 27th, 2010 was so strong that it broke off a large piece of the earth's crust and slightly shifted the earth from its axis, as a result shortening the earth day.
According to NASA a complex computer model's preliminary calculation shows that Earth's days should have shortened by 1.26 microseconds (a microsecond is one millionth of a second).
NASA explained that while this change may not be noticeable in everyday life, it is permanent. At least 723 people died in the Chilean earthquake and more than half a million houses were destroyed.
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