The massive amount of rain that Hurricane Harvey layered over Houston apparently caused the entire metropolitan area to temporarily sink by 2 centimeters, Chris Milliner, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, told the Houston Chronicle. "GPS data show that (the flood) was so large it flexed Earth's crust, pushing Houston down," Milliner said in a tweet earlier this week. A gallon of water weighs about 8.34 pounds and Harvey brought a record 51.88 inches of rain, making it plausible that the flooding would've weighed heavily on Houston — literally.
Milliner assured the Chronicle that this is just a "temporary drop" though. "Once floodwaters recede, we should expect a similar, but opposite elastic response of the crust, i.e., uplift," Milliner said in an email. "Similar to if you were to jump on and off your mattress."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Max Allan Collins’ 6 favorite books that feature private detectivesFeature The mystery writer recommends works by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and more
-
What to know about the latest Social Security cost-of-living adjustmentThe Explainer The COLA for 2025 marked the smallest increase in years, and benefit recipients are not happy
-
Sen. Booker's 25-hour speech beats ThurmondSpeed Read He spoke for the longest time in recorded Senate history, protesting the Trump administration's policies
-
Myanmar quake deaths rise as survivor search intensifiesspeed read The magnitude-7.7 earthquake in central Myanmar has killed a documented 2,000 people so far, and left scores more trapped beneath rubble
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weaponsThe Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
-
Israel detains director after West Bank settler clashspeed read The director of Oscar-winning documentary 'No Other Land' was arrested and beaten
-
Turkey arrests Istanbul mayor, a top Erdogan rivalSpeed Read Protests erupted in Turkey after authorities detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu
-
Israel strikes Gaza, breaking ceasefireSpeed Read 326 Palestinians were killed in the first major attack since Netanyahu's government signed a ceasefire agreement with Hamas
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarrayIn the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
-
Houthis vow retaliation amid US airstrikesSpeed Read Trump promises the US will use 'overwhelming lethal force' against the Houthis until they stop attacking Red Sea ships
-
Pakistan train hostage standoff ends in bloodshedSpeed Read Pakistan's military stormed a train hijacked by separatist militants, killing 33 attackers and rescuing hundreds of hostages
