NASA says the ‘monster’ earthquake on Mars is the largest ever recorded on another planet

In terms of seismic events on the Red Planet (or indeed any planet other than Earth), this is the largest event ever recorded: NASA’s Insight probe has recorded a “monster” from the swamp, which is estimated to have struck with a force of 5 degrees. employment the scale used on the ground.

This beats the previous record holder, a 4.2 magnitude earthquake recorded by Insight on August 25, 2021. The new earthquake occurred in Mars On May 4 this year, 1222 Mars Day (or Mars Day) of the probe mission.

A magnitude 5 earthquake on Earth will be classified as moderate, and only causes slight damage. However, it is at the upper end of the earthquake magnitude that scientists detect on Mars, due to the lower seismic activity.

Full spectrogram of the earthquake. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/ETH Zurich)

At the moment, we do not know what exactly caused the earthquake or where it originated from on the Red Planet, but it is already of intense interest to researchers. It adds to the more than 1,300 earthquakes that Insight has detected since it landed in November 2018.

By studying seismic waves traveling through Mars, scientists hope to learn more about the planet’s crust, mantle, and core. This, in turn, should help understand how Mars (and other similar planets, such as Earth) formed in the first place.

“Since we tuned our seismometer in December 2018, we’ve been waiting for the ‘big seismometer’,” Planetary geophysicist Bruce Banerdt says: of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, and the InSight mission leader.

“This earthquake is sure to provide a view of the planet like no other. Scientists will be analyzing this data to learn new things about Mars for years to come.”

Because earthquakes are not as violent as earthquakes, they are difficult to detect, and other vibrations – from wind, for example – can interfere with the readings. With that in mind, InSight is equipped with a highly sensitive seismometer called Seismic experiment of the internal structure.

Volcanic activity is also thought to generate seismic waves on Mars, and experts continue to identify new patterns in data that Insight and its seismometer have already recorded and sent back to Earth.

With that in mind, you can expect to hear more about the data collected by Insight on May 4, 2022, in the future, but now it’s clear that the earthquake is record-breaking — and way above average for what it would normally be. It is projected on Mars.

Unfortunately, Insight has now faced some technical difficulties: With the onset of the Martian winter and increasing dust levels in the air, the lander is struggling to get enough sunlight onto the solar panels that power it.

As a result, the machine has put itself in safe mode for the time being. This hibernation shuts down all but the basic functions, and it may take a while before we hear anything from Insight again.