RIAU24.COM – Scientists have discovered the biggest “Mars Earthquake” in the Red Planet’s “Shadow Zone”. Scientists have been intrigued by the existence of earthquakes on Mars that are very similar to those on Earth. Through a seismometer attached to the InSight lander, scientists have been recording “Mars Earthquakes” since 2019.
And now, they have found evidence of the largest Martian earthquake ever. The two Martian quakes are called S0976a, a magnitude 4.2 earthquake that occurred on August 25, 2021 and S1000a, a magnitude 4.1 event that struck 24 days later. These two Marsquakes are five times more powerful than scientists previously recorded.
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Mapping the far side of Mars
Both quakes came from the shadow zone of Mars, in opposite directions from the InSight lander. This is the first time the sensor has recorded data from such a great distance.
“Not only is it the largest and most distant event by a sizeable margin, S1000a has a spectrum and duration unlike any other previously observed event,” planetary seismologist Anna Horleston, from the University of Bristol in the UK told Science Alert.
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The Mars S1000a earthquake has been described as a “clear outlier” because of the broad spectrum of energy frequencies it produces. It is also the longest seismic event recorded by InSight so far – with 94 minutes of action.
Seismic waves were used to detect the two Marsquakes. These waves don’t follow a direct path but are reflected at least once on the surface, and that’s how InSight measures earthquakes from great distances.
Both quakes occurred in the shadow zone of Mars, where InSight has difficulty detecting seismic activity directly. Scientists have few ideas about earthquakes occurring in this region, but this marks the first time data has been recorded.
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