EARTHS SLOWING ROATATION MIGHT CAUSE MORE EARTHQUAKES

American scientists say they have found a correlation between sporadic slowing of the Earth's rotation and an increase in the number of severe earthquakes - and a surge is due next year. Professor Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado in Boulder and Rebecca Bendick of the University of Montana wrote a paper on the subject and presented it at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America between 4-7 November.

The research examined historical records of severe earthquakes dating back to 1900, and found five periods where the number of severe earthquakes was significantly higher than usual.

During those times, the number of big quakes was "between 25 and 30," Professor Bilham wrote, compared with average numbers of about 15 per year, worldwide. Every so often, the rotation of the Earth slows down slightly - by up to a millisecond per day - and the paper argues that approximate five years after these slowdowns occur, a period of increase in earthquakes also occurs.