Earth Wobble Monitor

Is the Earth wobbling more than usual? This dashboard tracks the subtle shifts in our planet's spin — updated daily with official scientific data.

Data from IERS Rapid Service/Prediction Center · Updated 1/31/2026

Earth Wobble Score

6/100

Normal

Earth's wobble looks perfectly normal right now.

Earth's Polar Motion — Spiral Path

The wandering path of Earth's spin axis over the last 2 years. This is the Chandler wobble in action.

💡 What does this mean?

Imagine looking down at the North Pole from space and tracking the exact point the Earth spins around. It traces a spiral pattern — this is the Chandler wobble, a natural ~14-month cycle. A tight, regular spiral = normal. If it gets erratic or starts drifting in a new direction, that could be noteworthy. The red dots show dates along the path.

Normal

Daily Wobble Change

1.3 mas/day

How much the spin axis moved in the last day. Think of it like the tip of a spinning top drifting — under 5 is calm, over 15 is unusual.

Normal

North-South Drift

91 mas

How far the axis has drifted in the north-south direction. Measured in milliarcseconds — tiny fractions of a degree.

Normal

East-West Drift

360 mas

The east-west component of the wobble. Together with North-South, this tells us where the spin axis is pointing.

Normal

Day Length Change

0.08 ms

The day is 0.08 milliseconds longer than a perfect 24 hours. Tiny, but it reveals what's happening deep inside the Earth.

Spin Axis Drift Over Time

How the North-South and East-West wobble have changed since 2000.

💡 What does this mean?

Earth doesn't spin perfectly straight — its axis wobbles slightly, like a spinning top that isn't quite balanced. The green line shows the north-south wobble and the blue line shows east-west. Smooth, wave-like patterns are normal. Sudden jumps or trend changes could be significant.

Is the Day Getting Longer or Shorter?

Tiny changes in how long each day lasts (in milliseconds).

💡 What does this mean?

A "perfect" day is exactly 86,400 seconds. But in reality, some days are a fraction of a millisecond longer or shorter — you'd never notice, but scientists can measure it precisely. These fluctuations come from things like ocean currents, wind patterns, and interactions between Earth's core and mantle. Big or sudden changes could hint at something unusual happening underground.

Earth's Clock vs. Atomic Clocks

The gap between time based on Earth's spin and ultra-precise atomic clocks.

💡 What does this mean?

We have two ways to measure time: atomic clocks (perfectly steady) and Earth's rotation (slightly irregular). This chart shows the gap between them. It drifts because Earth doesn't spin at a perfectly constant rate. Gradual drift is normal and is why we occasionally add "leap seconds." A sudden change in the trend would suggest something is affecting Earth's rotation speed.

What is the ECDO Theory?

The ECDO theory (Exothermic Core-Mantle Decoupling – Dzhanibekov Oscillation) proposes that Earth's core periodically releases bursts of heat that weaken the connection between the core and the outer shell (mantle + crust). If the connection weakens enough, the outer shell could suddenly shift — like the shell of an egg rotating around the yolk inside.

The Key Ideas (In Plain English)

  • Earth's core goes through heating cycles. Sometimes it absorbs heat, sometimes it releases it. During a big release, the "glue" between the core and outer layers gets weaker.
  • The Dzhanibekov Effect. A spinning object in zero gravity can suddenly flip its axis. The ECDO theory suggests something similar could happen to Earth's crust if it decouples from the core — a rapid pole shift.
  • The wobble is an early warning sign. Changes in how Earth wobbles could signal that the core-mantle connection is changing. That's why we track it here.
  • It may have happened before. Flood myths, genetic bottlenecks (~3000-5000 BCE where most of the male population was wiped out), and ancient monument alignments are cited as possible evidence of past events.

What Would We Look For?

  • The wobble spiral getting irregular or drifting in a new direction
  • Sudden changes in day length
  • The clock gap (UT1-UTC) changing trend unexpectedly
  • Any combination of the above happening at the same time

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