What are marsquakes and moonquakes?

Marsquakes and moonquakes are seismic events that shake the surface or interior of Mars and the Moon, much like earthquakes on Earth. They provide scientists with vital data to probe the internal structures and geological activity of these planetary bodies. While moonquakes have been well-documented, marsquakes were first tentatively detected by the Viking mission and later confirmed by the InSight lander.

What we know

• Marsquakes are surface or interior shakes on Mars caused by shifts in the planet's interior, tectonic activity, or volcanic hotspots. [2]
• Quakes have been observed and well-documented on the Moon, and seismic events have also been linked to meteor impacts on Mars. [2, 3]
• Marsquakes were first detected but not confirmed by the Viking mission in 1976, and later confirmed by the InSight mission in 2019 using its SEIS instrument. [2, 3, 4]
• The InSight mission detected a total of 1319 marsquakes before concluding operations. [3]

Still open

• While magnetic striping on Mars suggests past crust splitting and spreading similar to Earth, no clear spreading ridge has been found, leaving open the possibility of a non-seismic explanation for the striping.

Where to go next

• how it workedHow does the InSight SEIS instrument detect marsquakes?
• what followedWhat did the InSight mission discover about Mars?
• compared withHow do earthquakes generate seismic waves?
• a case in pointWhat can marsquakes reveal about Valles Marineris?
• the bigger pictureWhat causes seismic activity on rocky planets?
• an unexpected connectionHow did a meteor impact create a marsquake?SEIS detected a large seismic signature on Mars caused directly by a meteor impact that formed a new 150-meter crater.

Sources

• [1]marsquake (Wikidata Q59310748) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Marsquake · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]InSight · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Earthquake · CC BY-SA 4.0