Butterfly effect, magnetar edition

Phil Plait has a great post about a one centimeter shift occurring in a magnetar star 50,000 light years away.

Yeah, I know: small, far away - Why do I care?

Because a one centimeter star-quake on a magnetar (even one 50,000 light years away) creates a wave of energy:

This enormous wave of fierce energy was so powerful it actually partially ionized the Earth’s upper atmosphere, and it made the Earth’s magnetic field ring like a bell. Several satellites were actually blinded by the event.

This thing is almost on the opposite side of the galaxy - and a ripple on its surface can blind our satellites. Dr. Plait goes on to point out that we have magnetars as close as 7,000 light years and that similar events occurring at that distance would turn the bulk of our orbital hardware into potato chips.

That's just freaky.