This article was originally published in English
Scientists from several missions orbiting the Red Planet examined their satellite data to determine the cause of the magnitude 4.7 earthquake.
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A team of scientists believes they have discovered the source of the largest earthquake ever recorded on Mars.
Originally thought to be massive vibrations caused by a meteor impact, it is now believed to be a “marsquake” caused by tectonic activity beneath the surface of the Red Planet.
NASA wants to one day send humans to colonize Mars, but before that’s possible there’s a lot we need to know about the planet.
One of the key elements is determining safe landing zones. Scientists working on the project say their findings could help us understand where people could safely land and live and where they should avoid.
The search for the source of the magnitude 4.7 quake, which lasted six hours, was launched after it was recorded by NASA’s InSight exploration mission on May 4, 2022.
According to Michigan Technological University, earthquakes with magnitudes between 2.5 and 5.4 occur about half a million times a year on planet Earth and are often felt by the population, but usually cause little damage.
The researchers said the seismic signal resembled tremors known to be caused by meteorite impacts, so the event, dubbed S1222a, was considered the cause.
It is believed to be the first time that all missions orbiting the Red Planet have worked together on a single project. To confirm the hypothesis, an international search for the suspected impact crater was launched.
Teams from the European Space Agency (ESA), the Chinese Space Agency (CNSA), the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA) and the University of Oxford, who led the study, found no evidence of the existence of a crater or the signature of a meteorite impact.
After several months of searching for satellite data, the team concluded that the earthquake was caused by tectonic forces within the planet.
“We still believe that Mars does not have active plate tectonics today, so this event was likely caused by the release of stresses within the Martian crust,” says Dr. Benjamin Fernando from the University of Oxford, who is responsible for the study.
“These stresses are the result of billions of years of evolution, including cooling and shrinking of different parts of the planet at different rates.”
He adds that the information collected by the researchers “can help us understand where it would be safe for humans to live on Mars and where it would be better to avoid it.”
The researchers published their findings in the journal Geophysical Research Letters and said the evidence they gathered suggests that Mars is much more seismically active than previously thought.
“This experiment shows the importance of maintaining a diverse set of instruments on Mars, and we are very pleased to have played our part in realizing the multi-instrumental and international approach of this study,” admits Dr. Daniela Tirsch, scientific coordinator of the high-resolution stereo camera on board the ESA Mars Express spacecraft.
The S1222a earthquake was one of the last events recorded by InSight before declaring the end of its mission in December 2022.