From what I understand, they mean that the "east" and "west" poles were, at that time, north and south. The something big flipped the earth so the solidified ir

From what I understand, they mean that the "east" and "west" poles were, at that time, north and south. The something big flipped the earth so the solidified iron was east west, and then the rest of the core started solidifying to it's current north/south direction. They aren't calling it a east/west pole, but that the north/south of that magnetic sphere are unnaturally aligned as so they are east/west relative to what we understand as north/south.