NASA’s InSight probe has detected the largest earthquake ever seen on another planet. With a magnitude of 5, an earthquake was heard on the Red Planet on May 4.
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“We’ve been waiting for the ‘Big Quake’ since we installed our seismometer in December 2018,” said Bruce Banerdt, principal investigator for the InSight lander at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory | NASA
“Scientists will analyze this data to learn new things about Mars for years to come,” the researcher said in a statement.
Since the stationary spacecraft landed on Mars in 2018, InSight has detected more than 1,313 earthquakes. The largest volume to date was recorded at 4.2 on the Richter scale on August 25, 2021.
In addition to recording the movements on a seismograph, the sound of the earthquake was also recorded.
On Earth, a magnitude 5 earthquake is considered average, but it is considered very strong on Mars.
On Earth, it is the movement and friction of tectonic plates that causes earthquakes.
So how do earthquakes happen on Mars?
According to the explanations provided by CNN, the Earth of Mars consists of a single crust that contains faults and cracks. The Red Planet shrinks as it cools. Thus the pressure exerted on its crust will cause earthquakes.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory | NASA
