This was brought up in a New York Post article about the Indian Ocean earthquake/tsunamis, however, I'm guessing this phenomenan (if true) would occur in similar events as well.

Is this referring to a movement in mass, rather than a change in the quantity of mass?

Movement. An earthquake would have to hurl chunks of the Earth out into space (at escape velocity) to change the quantity of mass.

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Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.

I would think they are referring to a change in mass distribution, not a change in the Earth's mass.

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"A mystic is a person who is puzzled before the obvious but who understands the nonexistent." -- Elbert Hubbard

[quote="Hamlet"]Not quite Hamlet;
here's the rest of the quote;
"The quake caused a shift in the Earth's rotation, as the change in the planet's mass altered the effect of the pull of gravity on the Earth. But not to worry. The same thing happens in the summer and winter. It's harmless and it shouldn't last long."

What? #-o
Yep, I think, WorseAstronomer" has a real case of Bad Astronomy here...or at least Bad Geophysics!!

Yep, the planet's mass changes every summer & winter....suuure :^o

Yea, how wonderful; now we have to worry about gravity changes due to earthquakes...Ha Ha Ha , :^o :^o
I thought I probably gained a few pounds yesterday!

At best any change in the pull of gravity on earth (I suspect by the sun) is so miniscule as to be totally undetectable. He might as well have said, " Most vacationers went to Florida this winter, thus affecting the pull of gravity on earth this winter". And of course the birds migrated South too, shifting the center of gravity also... He, he.
Of course, what do you expect from The New York Post?

G^2

IMHO the New York Post is one step (a very tiny step) above the National Enquirer. If they reported the sun rose in the East, I'd have to go outside to check myself. :wink:

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
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