Late on Earth night on May 4, or Sol 1222 on the surface of Mars, the seismometer aboard NASA’s Insight Mars Lander discovered a “terrifying earthquake” on the Red Planet, which lasted Its bounces for several hours, and it recorded a rare event.
The quake was at least five times the size of the largest earthquake ever recorded on the planet, according to a new study published (Wednesday) in Geophysical Research Letters. “This was definitely the largest earthquake we have seen, the energy released from it is equivalent to the cumulative energy from all the other earthquakes we have seen so far, and although Although the event was more than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) away, the waves recorded in the Insight Mars Lander were very large.
And seismology on Mars could give scientists a better idea of what lies beneath the planet’s surface, including water, and how its crust is formed and how deep its interior is, as it is on Earth.
The previous largest earthquake, recorded in August 2021, had a magnitude of 4.2, while the earthquake of last May was five times greater than the previous earthquake. It reached 4.7 degrees. According to Sherif El-Hadi, Head of the Earthquake Department at the National Institute for Astronomical and Geophysical Research in Egypt, “The correct one in earthquake scales means an increase of 10 times, but one out of ten means an increase of only 1, and accordingly; The increase in the May 2022 earthquake at a rate of 0.5 means that it is 5 times more powerful than before.
Kawamura noted that for the first time, “they were able to identify surface waves, which move along the crust and upper mantle, and which have traveled around the planet many times.”
The waves from the record-breaking earthquake lasted about 10 hours, for a long time, and it was also very curious. Because the epicenter of the earthquake was near the Cerberus Fosai region, which is the most seismically active region on the Red Planet.
The epicenter does not appear to be clearly associated with known geological features, although the deep epicenter could be associated with features hidden beneath the crust.
Mars earthquakes are often divided into two different types, those with high-frequency waves that are characterized by rapid vibrations; But the shorter, lower-frequency ones are when the surface moves slowly but with a greater amplitude. This latter seismic event is rare because it showed characteristics of both high- and low-frequency earthquakes, Kawamura explained. He added, “Further research may reveal that the low- and high-frequency earthquakes previously recorded are just two sides of the same thing.”
This study is the first of its kind to describe and analyze data from this major earthquake, which was released by the NASA Planetary Data System service. It is believed that the Insight Mars Lander is nearing its operational end. Because dust has gradually covered its solar panels and reduced its power in the four years since its landing in November 2018.
“We were impressed that almost at the end of the extended mission, we had data on this remarkable event, and based on the data collected from this earthquake, this mission was an extraordinary success,” Kawamura says.