NASA’s Insight probe detected the largest earthquake. Five times more powerful than before

Mars is a phenomenon equivalent to an earthquake on this planet. The fact that these types of tremors occur on the Red Planet, we learned relatively recently, because V.V Walks 2019. Discovered by the InSight probe NASAWhich landed on the surface of the planet at the end of November 2018.

At least two years of research several hundred clear signals, Evidence of seismic tremors on Mars – as they do on Earth. They are weaker and have different causes (Mars does not have plate tectonics like our planet), but they are common.

The most powerful Martian earthquake in history has been detected

Now, a team of researchers has analyzed data from the InSight mission to report ozRecording the strongest earthquake in the history of measurements. They announced that the record-breaking earthquake occurred on May 4, 2022 and had a magnitude of 4.7 on the Richter scale. site researchers American Geophysical Union. This earthquake has been detected before, but only now has its analysis and investigation been completed.

The researchers estimated that the May earthquake was at least five times more powerful From the two previous record shocks in August and September 2021. At that time, both earthquakes measured 4.2 on the Richter scale.

The energy released by this single swamp is equivalent to the cumulative energy of all the other swamps we’ve seen so far. And even though the event was more than 2,000 kilometers away, the waves InSight recorded were so clear they almost exceeded our seismometer.

– said John Clinton, a seismologist from the Federal University of Technology in Zurich, co-leader of the study.

Scientists add that this is the first time that they have been able to record very accurately the waves that propagate within the crust and upper mantle of Mars. The waves circled the entire planet several times.

The researchers were a bit surprised because the epicenter was outside the area (although relatively close). Errors of Cerberus Fusay, which is considered the most seismically active region of the Red Planet. Moreover, the waves of this earthquake were recorded for about 10 hours, while none of the previous earthquakes lasted more than an hour.

It was likely the last strong earthquake ever recorded on Mars. For months, NASA had suspected that InSight would soon stop producing enough energy to heat and power key components. On Monday, the US space agency reported that the probe for several times days It does not respond to commands sent to it, and the last photo taken during the mission may have been posted to Twitter. More on this Title We wrote in the following text:

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