Mars experienced a fairly strong earthquake last week. The quake had a magnitude of 5.0, making it the most powerful shockwave ever recorded on any other planet.
The US Mars Insight lander measured the quake on May 4. The rover Insight landed on Mars in 2018 and has since recorded more than 1,300 earthquakes. Until last week, the strongest earthquake with a magnitude of 4.2 was in August last year.
NASA talks about a “monstrous earthquake.” The space agency cannot yet say exactly where the earthquake occurred and what caused it. More research should clarify this.
Earthquakes on Mars can’t get much stronger than the latter. That’s because Mars, unlike Earth, has no moving plates that can cause earthquakes. Researchers have evidence that earthquakes on Mars may be caused by volcanic activity.
The strongest earthquake ever recorded on Earth had a magnitude of 9.6. It happened in 1960 in the Chilean province of Valdivia. The strongest earthquake ever recorded in the Netherlands was measured in 1992 in Roermond and had a magnitude of 5.8.
By analyzing earthquakes on Mars, scientists hope to learn more about the planet’s interior.
