Many years of research on the red planet Mars continues, with the study of Mars earthquakes recorded since 2019. Earthquake data recorded by the seismograph on the InSight spacecraft finally revealed the two largest earthquakes ever detected on Mars. The earthquakes, named
S0976a and S1000a, occurred with a magnitude of 4.2 on August 25, 2021, and a magnitude of 4.1 24 days later, respectively. The earthquakes in question were the largest recorded on Mars. It was announced that the earthquakes were 5 times larger than all earthquakes measured on Mars.
Earthquakes took place on the other side of the planet
The area where the earthquakes occurred was also a point of interest. The earthquakes took place in the so-called ‘shadow zone’, which, according to InSight’s position, is on the other half of the planet. The fact that earthquakes were recorded even from such a remote area was the factor proving the magnitude of the earthquakes.
S1000a earthquake also had another feature that was different from other earthquakes. According to InSight data, the earthquake lasted exactly 94 minutes. While the earthquake was thought to have occurred near the surface, its exact location could not be determined. It was determined that the S0976a earthquake took place in the Valles Marineris canyon network, where earthquakes were detected before. The research examining earthquakes was published in GeoSienceWorld and NASA’s website the other day.
- Seismograph of the InSight spacecraft.
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