Two new earthquakes have been recorded on Mars by the InSight mission. These are the two most powerful detected by the lander since its arrival on the red planet.
The InSight mission succeeded in detecting two new “tremors of Mars “. These detections are presented as the “ two largest seismic events never recorded by the Martian lander, announcement the Seismological Society of America on April 22, 2022. A study detailing these phenomena has been published in The Seismic Record the same day.
These two events have the particularity of having occurred on the side of the planet opposed to InSight’s location — unlike Perseverance, InSight is stationary, it does not roll like a rover. The mission, devoted to the study of the internal structure of Mars, is located near the equator (which promotes the sunshine necessary for its solar panels), in a flat and open area called Elysium Planitia.
What do we know about the 2 powerful earthquakes detected by InSight on Mars?
Like when we measure earthquakes on earth, earthquakes occurring on Mars are characterized by their magnitude. The magnitude provides information on the energy that has been released. It is measured with Richter scale.
- The first earthquake is called S0976a. It was recorded on August 25, 2021. Its magnitude is estimated at 4.2. It has its origin in Valles Marineris, a set of canyons. This detection is the first confirmed seismic activity in this area, where the possibility of seismic activity was suspected, but not yet observed.
- The second earthquake, named S1000a, was recorded 24 days later, on September 18, 2021. The geographical origin of the tremor has not been precisely traced. The event is particularly long, with a duration of 1 hour and 34 minutes — that’s longer thana previous earthquake detected by InSight, which had lasted 1h30.
For comparison, on Earth, an earthquake of magnitude between 3.5 and 5.4 is often felt, but usually causes no damage.
“Remarkable Events in the Martian Seismic Catalog”
« These are the largest seismic events recorded so far on Mars write the authors of the study. Their power is estimated to be 5 times stronger than the previous largest earthquake recorded by InSight before. The data suggests that S0976a has a deeper origin than S1000a. ” S0976a and S1000a are notable events in the Martian seismic catalog, and they will help deepen our understanding of the Red Planet “, can we read in the study.
Recording such phenomena is very useful in helping scientists learn more about the internal structure of Mars. It is notably thanks to InSight data thatMars is known to be “hot and sticky” on the inside. « With these two events, we have our first glimpse of the central shadow zone of Mars. “, conclude the scientists.